I Guess I Do
by x-backtoblack-x
Summary: Chloe's cousin's getting married and she'll be damned if she has to endure another family gathering/speed dating weekend. Cue Beca to begrudgingly save the day.
1. Chapter 1

When Aubrey pushed open the door of the dorm room she'd shared with Chloe for the past three and a half years she found herself almost floored by the red head. Not that this was uncommon, though usually it only happened if one of them had been away for a weekend. Therefore the out of the blue embrace caught Aubrey off guard a little more than usual, seeing as she'd only been gone for the morning.

"Chlo' we've talked about this tackle hugging…" Aubrey chuckled, gently prying the red head off her. "Need I remind you of the time I ended up with a concussion?" She added, quirking her brow.

"I didn't know the door was that close…" Chloe muttered, still guilty over the incident that had occurred in their second year. "Though this time it was a hug of desperation." She added with a drawn out sigh as if to validate her actions.

"Uh oh…" Aubrey frowned, for the first time noticing how deject her best friend looked. "I'll put the kettle on."

The kettle was one they bought in Ikea and left sitting on the floor alongside some tea bags and bottles of water, but college life was college life, so they made do. Aubrey filled two cups they'd gotten along with their dollar meal deals the night before (it was no secret they couldn't wait to have real jobs and a real apartment) and walked over to Chloe's bed.

The red head had curled herself into a cocoon, but extended an arm eagerly and blindly to accept her coke cup of tea when Aubrey offered it to her. Sighing, Chloe finally poked her head out from between her knees when she felt the bed to her right dip with Aubrey's weight.

"Spill…" Aubrey prompted simply, blowing on the steaming liquid before taking a sip, wincing when it burned her tongue anyway.

"… Rachel's getting married in two weeks." Chloe groaned, throwing her head back and bashing it against the wall behind her, with a dramatic flair that Aubrey usually demanded exclusive rights to. "And she asked me to be a bridesmaid." She added, sounding more like she'd been asked to swallow arsenic.

"Which one's she again?" Aubrey queried, the sheer volume of Chloe's family still confusing her to this day (as if the red hair wasn't enough of a give-away that Chloe was part Irish).

"My mom's eldest sister's youngest daughter." Chloe rattled off. "The one that insists her name's pronounced Raquel even though it's fucking Rachel." She added as if this were the one defining feature her cousin held, rolling her eyes to the heavens.

"Oh… the bitch I met two years ago then." Aubrey nodded, suddenly understanding Chloe's pained expressions.

"That'd be her." Chloe sighed, taking a long soothing mouthful of tea before continuing. "I mean having to go's bad enough, but she's gone and made me a bridesmaid. I swear the lord is testing me."

"It won't be that bad." Aubrey tried to reason with her. "Adam and Daniel will be there won't they?" She questioned, referring to Chloe's older brother and younger cousin who (aside from the blonde obviously) were the red head's two best friends.

"Yea but it's my family…" Chloe groaned. "Finding people to talk to is only half the battle with them." She needlessly reminded her best friend. "You know they've been trying to set me up for three years now. This wedding's just going to be a perfect storm for it! Rachel's in laws and my mother will be there."

"Bring someone with you and say you're going out with them." Aubrey shrugged as if it were the most obvious solution in the world. "I mean your parents know you're bi, so you're not even limited on who you could bring." She added, as if this sweetened the deal.

"Bring someone with me…" Chloe allowed the words to toy about in her head, considering all her options.

"My god this room has an echo." Aubrey smirked, taking another sip of her tea as Chloe nudged her forcefully in the side. "Hey watch it! I'm giving you options here, don't try and scald me with my own tea." Aubrey warned with wide eyes, arms having gone ridged in an attempt to control the shock waves in her cup.

She didn't get an immediate response from her best friend (sarcastic or otherwise), and once Aubrey got her beverage under control she chanced a glance at the red head to figure out why. Chloe had that glint in her eye. That "I have a plan and it involves you" kind of glint that Aubrey never liked the look of.

In their second year at Barden that glint had cumulated in them on a road trip with the Art History professor (who was as old as he was dull). Basically the moral of the story had been to never trust that look in Chloe's eye, and never, ever, allow yourself to get talked into a road trip to Arizona with an elderly man (though the latter was probably uncontrollable as she, to this day, wasn't sure how it had come about).

"What…" Aubrey inquired; her eyebrow quirking as Chloe's look quickly turned innocent.

"You know how you're my best friend in the entire world?" Chloe reminded the blonde, butter wouldn't melt expression matched with an innocent flutter of her eyelids.

"A fact I'm only ever reminded of when that friendship's about to be tested." Aubrey snorted, knowing all the sweet talk would lead to the same nasty question anyway. "Now out with it."

"… Wanna maybe pose as my girlfriend for a weekend?" Another quick bat of her eyelids when the question was asked.

It took Aubrey a moment to regain composure enough to talk. Chloe's question was… absurd to say the least. There were so many flaws Aubrey wasn't quite sure where to begin, but she decided to put forward her case using the two most solid pieces of defence she had.

"As much as I'd love to pose as your girlfriend for the week…" She began, trying her hardest not to scoff at the absurdity of the notion. "There're two key flaws I've found to your logic."

"Trust you…" Chloe sighed, grimacing as Aubrey continued.

"Well first of all, I've met your family about a million times now, and I'm practically like a second daughter to your mom, so it'd be uncomfortable and weird. Also, you said it was in two weeks." She stated, waiting for Chloe to nod before continuing. "Two weeks is the start of April Chloe…"

"Shit." Chloe muttered under her breath. "Trust my family to throw a wedding the same week your family does that mountain retreat bonding thing."

"Compulsory mountain retreat bonding thing." Aubrey corrected her with an apologetic smile. "So as much as I'd love to accompany you as your friend, and only as your friend, I'm afraid I couldn't anyway." She sighed and shrugged.

"Now what am I supposed to do?" Chloe groaned; her head once more falling back to clunk off the wall.

"Refrain from giving yourself brain damage for a start." Aubrey scolded lightly. "Then find someone else to ask…" She pointed out the obvious, shrugging as she done so and taking another mouthful of tea.

"Like all the other millions of people who'd have nothing better to do in the middle of a college year than go on a break to Florida with me." Chloe retorted, sarcasm lacing every word.

"As much as I resent the insinuation that I'd have nothing better to do at this time of year…" Aubrey shot her best friend a threatening look. "I'm still willing to help, and I think I could have just the person in mind…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh, I don't normally write A/N's here. Basically, thank you for all the feedback on chapter one and stuff, I'm glad you liked it. Also, person who wrote this comment: **

_**"can i just say how effing awesome you are!? i mean, yea, sure, you disappear for ages, but then you come back with like 10 stories and updates on everything... so that totally makes up for everything. i love all your fics...seriously...so much talent and so fun to read! please update soon! :D"**_

**I don't even know why, I just laughed really hard, I think it was the "disappear for ages" part because unfortunitally it's so true. Anyway I'll try and keep updates on this semi-regular (or my definition of semi-regular anyway) so we'll see how that goes.**

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"No." Beca's refusal was straight to the point (unlike Aubrey the brunette didn't feel the need to sugar coat it).

"Beca please!" Chloe pleaded, getting down on her knees in the middle of the young DJ's dorm, ignoring the baffled look she received from both the woman in question and her Asian roommate.

"No Chloe. This isn't something we're going to argue about." Beca informed her without hesitation, still sitting at her desk, trying to ignore the other woman's sad eyes. "There's no way you can bargain with me here, I'm not going to spend a weekend pretending to be your girlfriend for your family… you don't even know if I'm gay or not!"

"You don't need to be gay! Thus the word pretending." Chloe insisted. "Though for the record you so are… I think we both knew where you were looking that time in the shower." She added as an afterthought, having no qualms about speaking of their shower duet in front of Kimmy Jin, even though the subject instantly turned Beca fire engine red.

"Uh… Kimmy Jin, could you…" Beca mumbled awkwardly, not even having to finish her sentence before the other woman shot her a glare, grabbed her laptop and stalked out of the room.

Beca sighed once the door slammed with more force than was necessary. In spite of the fact that she had very little to do at weekends at Barden, the idea of spending a weekend pretending to be someone's girlfriend and attending a wedding was even more unappealing if at all possible. She'd gone out of her way to avoid meeting her ex's in laws in the past and now she was being faced with the proposition of doing it of her own free will for someone she wasn't even sleeping with (the entire situations was just ridiculous).

"Beca please…" Chloe's pout seemed to intensify (if at all possible) as she shimmied across the floor on her knees until she was practically leaning on Beca's lap.

"Chloe no… find… find someone else." Beca was becoming awkward now, trying to avoid the way the red heads elbows were pressing into her thighs, dangerously close to her nether regions. "Ask Aubrey!" She suggested in desperate hope.

"Aubrey cant, she has a family thing that weekend." Chloe sighed, throwing her hands up in defeat. "Look if you do this I'll do anything for you… please, please, please!"

"There's nothing in particular I want…" Beca insisted, huffing out a breath and averting her gaze as Chloe's eyes only seemed to get sadder with each word she said. "What I really want is for you to get out." She added as an afterthought.

"Fine." Chloe huffed, standing so abruptly Beca had to flinch back in order to avoid a bust nose. "This isn't over though." The red head informed her, waggling her eyebrows at the shorter woman.

"Oh my god what do you have planned…" Beca questioned, eyes going wide as Chloe turned to leave the room.

"I have plans to win this Beca Mitchell." Chloe informed the brunette over her shoulder. "And a winner never reveals her tactics."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was two days later when Chloe's tactic was revealed to Beca. She should have expected it really. In fact, she'd later kick herself for not having anticipated it.

Shower ambush number two came early during the day this time. A cold wind had blown outside the student accommodation building as Beca had made her way to the shower rooms. More people occupied the stalls this time but she figured this was safer. Not even Chloe would dare ambush her in a room full of people.

Oh how wrong she was.

She'd failed to spot the red head lurking (as most predators do) two rows away from her as she'd slipped into a cramped changing room to dress in a bath robe before heading for a shower. She may have noticed the same red head trailing behind her as she walked into the shower rooms if it had not been for the fact that Beca now showered during the day because it was "safer", meaning more people to mask the sound of a second set of steps. She may even have noticed Chloe slide into the empty shower cubicle next to her if not for the fact that she'd been busy glaring at the girl that had tried to slip into her stall before her.

Alas none of this was to be. The first time Beca noticed Chloe was half ways through rinsing her hair, suds stinging her eyes when they shot open at the sound of "so we meet again" to the tune of Chloe's bubbly voice.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Beca hissed; turning blindly to the source of the noise, sure by now she was blind from the suds, and probably suffering a heart attack.

"Nope, just Chloe… but close." The red head teased, an innocent smile plastered on her face as she closed the shower curtain behind her and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting as Beca wiped furiously at her eyes.

"What… what do you want Chloe?" Beca groaned, tilting her head under the jet of water to clear the remaining suds from her hair, and to avoid having to look directly at the very naked red head in front of her, for the second time.

"You know fine well what I want Beca." Chloe prompted, her arms remaining firmly crossed.

"Is now really the time?" Beca hissed, her eyes silently pleading with the red head as she became acutely aware of where they were all of a sudden (and just how many people were around them).

"Yes, yes it is." Chloe nodded, looking Beca dead in the eye as she spoke. "Because I'm not leaving until you agree to go with me." She dead panned.

"Oh for fuck sakes…" Beca groaned, throwing a hand in the air. "Chloe, I am very naked and in the middle of showering…" She tried to insist, motioning briefly to her body and blushing profusely when Chloe's sky blue eyes followed her hand before meeting her eye again.

"Nothing I haven't seen before…" Chloe countered, her voice remaining even as the hint of a smirk curled the corner of her lips.

"That's nothing to boast about." Beca shot back, mouth falling open at just how little Chloe seemed to care.

"I beg to differ…" The red head winked subtly, once more allowing her eyes to dart down briefly.

"Oh my god, get out!" Beca hissed, making a move to push the red head out of the cubicle, but realizing just in time that she'd be putting her hands on a very naked Chloe, instead choosing to leave her wrists hanging limply mid-air. "I'm not going to win this, am I?" She questioned with a long sigh.

"Not even nearly." Chloe confirmed with a bright grin.

"I have terms and conditions." Beca caved, folding her own arms over her chest and looking the red head dead in the eye.

"Well I'd love to hear them."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So when you heading off?" Aubrey questioned, walking with her best friend back from the most recent Bellas practice (in which no blood was shed due to accident or squabble, thus making it a success).

"I'm driving down this weekend for a dress fitting, and then the Thursday after that I'm leaving after classes with Beca for the big event." Chloe filled the blonde in, a thin lipped smile on her face at the thought of the weeks to come.

"So you convinced her then." Aubrey sounded surprised, chief reason being because she actually was surprised.

"Mhm…" Chloe nodded simply, continuing their journey across the quad towards the dorms.

"Don't just mhm me… I need details on this." Aubrey demanded, having suggested Beca with no prior belief that the younger woman would agree.

"I have my ways…" Chloe remained vague, smiling into the fading sun of the evening as she knew how much this would wind her best friend up.

"… You invaded her shower again, didn't you?" Aubrey dead panned, shooting a disproving and un-amused look at Chloe even though the other woman failed to notice it.

"Shit…. Forgot I told you that story." The red head pouted. "Though yea, that may or may not be how I got round her." She added meekly.

"I swear to god someday I'm going to be bailing you out of a jail cell and trying to get a restraining order lifted for you." Aubrey shook her head, trying her best to remain serious though she often found that difficult around her quirky best friend.

"Wait… Are you saying that's not the reason you became a lawyer in the first place?" Chloe feigned shock as she pivoted on the spot to face the blonde.

"Oh, of course. I envisioned that someday I'd meet a crazy red headed girl that had a knack for getting herself into ridiculous and often illegal situations, that I'd befriend and later need to defend on multiple counts of stalking." Aubrey shot back sarcastically.

"That's what I thought." Chloe nodded in agreement. "Though hey it worked, so whatever."

Aubrey rolled her eyes but said nothing, simply shaking her head at the enthusiastic smile on the red heads face. They made it to the dorm building in silence, neither having much to say to one another and choosing instead to enjoy what was left of the day (or in Aubrey's case silently judge the wasters lounging about on the grass with beer cans on a Wednesday evening). It was Chloe that eventually spoke up as they pushed open the building door.

"Bree…" She sounded apprehensive, which in turn made Aubrey nervous.

"What do you want?" The blonde groaned, turning to face the red head that had stopped in the common area inside the doors.

"A teeny, tiny little favour…" Chloe mumbled, indicating with her fingers just how small the favour was that she was asking for.

"Somehow I doubt that, but go on…" Aubrey sighed, crossing her arms and staring expectantly at Chloe.

"Becakindahadtermsandconditio nstogoingwithmeandoneofthemw asthatshegettoleadapractice." She gasped for breath when she was done speaking, eyes darting away from she confused green ones staring at her.

"Was that even English…?" Aubrey's jaw had dropped slightly; amazed her best friend had the ability to speak for that long.

"No." Chloe agreed, beginning to pick at her nails – a nervous habit she hated.

"Well then… care to translate it for those of us less linguistically gifted?" Aubrey prompted; quirking a bemused eyebrow.

"Well you see… uh… Beca kind of uh… she um…" Chloe paused, taking a deep breath to collect her thoughts before making brave eye contact once more with Aubrey and continuing. "She wants to lead a Bellas practice to show you that some of her ideas are actually good, just one. Otherwise she isn't coming." She relayed the information, wincing once she was done as if she'd been pulling off a band aid.

"You… I… She what now?" Aubrey questioned, her expression being far too neutral to read, though also far too neutral to mean anything good.

"Just one practice." Chloe reminded her. "Please…" She added then, feeling the one word was a nice touch.

"You've got to be kidding me." Aubrey muttered. "Why am I the one suffering for your benefit?" She complained.

"Because I'll be suffering for an entire weekend otherwise, you just have to suffer for two hours." Chloe bargained, hopeful at the fact that Aubrey hadn't immediately denied the proposition.

"Bailing you out of prison and saving your ass from your family… this is way more than I signed up for." Aubrey rolled her eyes before smiling briefly at her friend.

"Does this mean yes?" Chloe clapped her hands excitedly, her blue eyes lighting up.

"Don't get excited. This means I'll think about it." Aubrey insisted. "Now come on, while I consider it I'm getting you to write my paper to sweeten the deal." She added, beginning to walk towards the stairs.

"Yea okay, as if you'd let me write a single word of your homework." Chloe snorted, following close at the blondes heals.

"Whatever."


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay again, thank you guys so much for all the reviews. I smile like a tool when I read them (just so you know). Okay, so I'm going to mix it up just a little in this chapter, because a few of you were wondering what the "complication" would be in the story... so I'm introducing one.**

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Aubrey of course finally relented to helping Chloe in her quest for a stress free weekend, and by the time the red head was setting off for her dress fitting in Florida Beca had agreed to be her date, and was busy working on set lists for her practice in charge. Still though, a date was only one less thing for Chloe to worry about and the red head knew this only too well as she pulled into her old street in Tampa, sighing as she stood out of the car.

"Mom!" Chloe greeted enthusiastically, a smile plastered on her face as she embraced the woman that most people insisted Chloe was the double of.

"Chloe dear, how are you?" The older woman replied, looking much less than her fifty three years as she pulled away from her daughter to examine her properly. "Have you been eating properly? Keeping up with classes? Are you dating?" The most frequently asked three questions rolled off the other woman's lips.

"You don't beat about the bush, do you mom?" Chloe smiled, pulling away fully from the older red head (though her mother's hair was a dyed red rather than a natural auburn).

"Well you know me honey; I like to know how you're doing." The older woman insisted, easily brushing off the accusation.

"Well I think I'm going to take my bag to my room first. Then we can talk." Chloe laughed, shaking her head as she took a step back towards her car. "Sound good to you?" She added.

"Oh only if you insist." Her mother sighed. "I'll be in the living room."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Chloe had forgotten she'd been going through her hard core pink phase last time she'd lived here (and unfortunately she meant the colour, not the artist). Although the brightness was something she was still okay with, she knew she'd either need to change it or experience a lifetime of complaining once Beca arrived.

She intended on mentioning that to her mother once she got back down stairs, figuring it was a good way to break the subject of her having a "girlfriend", though was side-tracked once she stepped into the room.

"Dad…" Her greeting was this time far less enthusiastic, though she managed to mask it well with her million dollar smile.

"Chloe." His greeting was more formal than her mothers had been, the stout, balding man rising from his seat near the fire and grasping her outstretched hand. "How's school?"

"Good, it's good." Chloe nodded, her smile never faltering as he dropped her limp palm and reclined back into his chair, Chloe mimicking the movement as she fell back into the sofa behind her.

"Glad to hear it." He nodded; his features tight, barely allowing for a smile to break across them briefly.

"So…" It was Chloe's mother that rescued conversation before an awkward silence fell. "You still owe me and answer to my original three questions." She prompted with a bright smile.

"There's just no getting around you, is there?" Chloe questioned, laughing when her mother shook her head. "Right well I am eating, Aubrey's just insisting I eat healthily for Bellas so I'm not allowed to survive on my usual diet of Doritos and gummy bears. I'm passing all my classes so don't worry; I'll be getting a full degree to make you proud." Chloe couldn't help but blush slightly at the proud smile that graced her mother's features at this. "And well… let's just say you need to make up the guest room for next weekend." She trailed off mysteriously, not wanting to simply blurt everything out for fear of making her mother suspicious.

"Wait… does that mean you have… a date?" Her mother's mouth hung agape, as if unaware of the power her daughters dazzling smile and alluring blue eyes had on people (though she'd had more than her fair share of trouble with those qualities when Chloe was a teenager).

"It means I'm bringing someone to the wedding…" Chloe corrected her, actually enjoying the game she was playing seeing as she usually wasn't even close to having the upper hand on her mother.

"Does this someone have a name?" Chloe was sure her mother would fall on her ass on the floor if she edged any further off her seat.

"… Beca." Chloe was being stingy with information now just for the power kick she got with it.

"Hm." Her father's grunt didn't go unnoticed, though it was ignored by both women.

"Oh well no need to make up the guest room then." Chloe's mother stated mater of factly. "No chance of an unexpected grandchild with Beca I presume, so she's more than welcome to stay with you."

"Mom!" Chloe's jaw hung slack at her mother's words.

"Oh don't mom me. Do you think I came down in the last shower of rain? I know what you college kids be up to these days." She scoffed.

"Mom!" Chloe's eyes bulged. "Ew!"

"Oh, we all do it honey, nothing to be embarrassed about." Her mother smiled, seeming to consider this to be the right thing to say as her daughters face turned the same colour as her hair.

"Oh my god… kill me now." Chloe murmured; sinking back into her seat and wishing the world would swallow her whole.

"Now honey, don't be a drama queen." Her mother scolded lightly, rising from her chair as she spoke. "I'm going to make tea, I'll be back." She added then with a smile, turning to leave the room before Chloe had a chance to offer help.

The red head knew exactly what her mother had been doing. She was now alone with her father, a tactic her mother had tried every opportunity she got from when Chloe was fourteen. Why she still bothered was a mystery to the red head.

"So… how do you know Beca?" Her father's gruff voice filled the excruciatingly painful void that had been left in conversation after her mother had left the room, everything about the way he spoke seeming strained.

"We're in the Bellas together. She joined this year." Chloe nodded; pausing for a beat to rake her brain for anything else she could add to fill the silence. "She's um… she's a freshman and she's really into music. She works for the school station." That was it; that was literally all she could say without making the conversation feel any more forced than it already was.

"That's nice…" Her father nodded, seeming satisfied by the twenty seconds of silence that was filled. "Bellas, what's that anyway?" He added after a moment, obviously having employed the same digging for conversation tactic.

"It's the singing group I'm in dad…" Chloe tried her best not to allow her voice to sound strained. "I've been in it for four years now." She added, willing herself not to roll her eyes.

"Oh right, yes. Of course!" He agreed then, though Chloe knew from the tone of voice the meaning of the Bellas was still just as lost to him as it had been when he'd asked.

Conversation died completely after that. Neither could come up with anything new to say on the topic of Beca that wouldn't seem weird and forced.

There was an actual physical feeling of relief when Chloe's mom finally called the pair for their tea.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"How was your weekend?" Aubrey enquired; looking up from the law book she was taking notes from when she heard their dorm door swing open.

"Frilly, loud, and just as awkward as usual." Chloe replied curtly, discarding her bags on the floor, kicking the door shut and running the distance between her and Aubrey's bed to fling herself on top of the blonde. "Kill me now…" She groaned into her best friends shoulder, as Aubrey awkwardly wrapped an arm around her to pat the red head on the back.

"As much as I'd love to, you're gonna need to get off me for me to get my knife." Aubrey teased, feeling her lungs get crushed as Chloe put all her weight on her chest. "Chloe…" She prompted when the red head didn't move right away.

Eventually Chloe sat up, moving off Aubrey's body and allowing the blonde to close her book and twist her body so she too was in a sitting position. They both reclined until they were leaning against the wall behind Aubrey's bed and sat in silence for a moment before Chloe spoke up.

"Next weekend's going to suck, isn't it?" She already knew the answer, but waited for her best friend to confirm her fears anyway.

"Yea." Aubrey sighed, looking down at Chloe's hands and pulling one into her lap to stop the red head picking at her nails. "But it's just one weekend, you'll manage." She promised, slapping the hand in her lap when Chloe's fingers began to pick at the skin around her thumb nail instead.

"You're worse than my mother." Chloe commented, pulling her hand instantly out of the blondes lap like a wounded animal.

"Well then spending the weekend with her should be like a vacation." Aubrey joked.

"It's not her I'm worried about spending the weekend with." Chloe sighed, though she knew her best friend knew this all too well already. "In fact I could even manage the whole wedding part if I really had to."

"I would offer to take your dad with me on my mountain retreat thing, but well…" Aubrey trailed off, throwing the red head an apologetic look.

"I know, I know." Chloe sighed. "You find him just as much of an ass as everyone else that's ever come into contact with him." She nodded.

"Well I wouldn't say that…" Aubrey tried to defend weakly.

"What would you say then?" Chloe challenged with a light smile.

"I'd say…" Aubrey paused to consider how to finish the sentence. "I'd say that I'd rather spend an entire month alone with my father talking about all my shortcomings, than a weekend with yours talking about… well, nothing."

"That's a long winded way of saying he's an ass." Chloe pointed out with a mournful sigh. "I mean, how am I even going to introduce Beca to him? Like this is the reason I've never brought anyone home before." She began to ramble. "I mean maybe I'll just call off the whole charade. She'll never be able to handle him and she's going to hate it anyway. At least if I call if off now she won't hate me for making her go?"

"Okay, Chloe, calm down." Aubrey instructed. "You can't go without Beca now because you've told your mother you're bringing her." The blonde reminded her best friend. "As for Beca getting along with your father, it's one weekend. It's one weekend and she'll never have to see him again after that. Plus sitting in a corner and complaining is all she'll do anyway." She added, never having been great at hiding her distain for the brunette.

"Don't say that…" Chloe muttered, feeling oddly protective of the brunette. "She was good enough to agree to all this in the first place." She reminded the blonde.

"Yea, on the condition that she wreaks havoc on one of my Bellas practices!" Aubrey huffed.

"You could have said no." Chloe reminded her.

"Well, now we both know I'm too good a person to do something like that." Aubrey informed her, placing a mocking hand over her heart. "Saint Posen they'll call me…" She sighed wishfully.

"You're an idiot." Chloe pointed out, enjoying the rare glimpse of her light hearted best friend.

"And you're smiling, which means you're not as worried about next weekend as you were five minutes ago… my work here is done." Aubrey concluded proudly. "Now if that's all, I'll be getting back to note taking." She added, already pulling her book towards her.

"I suppose most of my worries are gone…" Chloe agreed, though even as she spoke her face cringed at a sudden memory. "Oh no wait…"

"What?" Aubrey's eyebrow quirked; her best friend's expression causing her to quickly loose interest once more in The Philosophy of Law.

"My mother's a modern woman apparently." Chloe couldn't help but snort at her own words.

"Dana being a modern woman… that doesn't even kind of sound like it could lead anywhere good." The blonde having had enough conversations with Chloe's interesting (to say the least) mother on enough occasions to know the way the older woman's mind worked.

"She thinks it's okay for Beca to uh… to stay in my room with me because… uh… she knows what kids get up to these days apparently." Chloe could feel herself go red just at the memory of the conversation.

Her words were met with radio silence at first. She could almost see the clogs behind Aubrey's eyes turn as the blonde processed the information. Instead of a ping when the sentence had been properly formatted however there was a bark of laughter, followed by more laughter, followed by more laughter, and then some more laughter.

Chloe sat there unimpressed as Aubrey clutched at her sides, whimpering due to the pain of her apparent laughing stitch, still privy to random outbursts of giggles. Finally she wiped the final few tears from her eyes.

"Oh I needed that…" Aubrey sighed happily, her grin almost consuming her entire face."Chloe if you love me you'll let me be there when you tell her." She was deadly serious when she spoke, though the smile still tugged desperately at the corners of her face.

"You're such an ass." Chloe shoved her best friend, only causing Aubrey to laugh once more.


	4. Chapter 4

**So I want to just thank everyone for continuing to read this. Everyone that's commented, and followed it. It really does mean a lot, so thanks.**

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"This is so dumb," Beca groaned in frustration, throwing herself back into the folds of her bed sheets. "I mean what do I even pack?" She whined to no one in particular.

(Well, she was whining at Kimmy Jin actually, but the expressionless stare she got in return was enough to tell her she may as well be complaining to thin air).

She wasn't sure why she'd agreed to go on this dumb trip in the first place. Sure, Chloe most certainly had a persuasive nature (abet, a slightly perverse one) but the entire concept of what she was about to undertake was absurd beyond words.

First off, she was going to Tampa. Now Beca wasn't big on geography (her high school teacher had made the grave error of placing her in the back corner, a.k.a: prime sleeping location) but Tampa was in Florida, and Florida was warm, and Beca burned. And not "burned" as in going a little red and then having it peel away to reveal a beautiful sun kissed glow (god she wanted to shank bitches that could pull that off), no, she meant turn tomato red for about a week, then have it peel away excruciatingly slowly to leave her paler than when she'd started. So Tampa; not cool.

Then there was of course the slight issue of her being Chloe's girlfriend. Now, that's not to say that Chloe was in any way unattractive, because that would be an outright lie, and Beca's mother had most certainly not raised a liar (an occasional shoplifter maybe, but never a liar). It was more the fact that in the three months that she'd known Chloe, and in spite of the frequency in which the pair seemed to shower together, she'd not really spent that much one on one time with the red head.

It's not that she had any aversion to her. More that she had an aversion to spending time with people in general. That being said the other woman had always made a conscious effort to make Beca feel included and accepted in the Bellas (in spite of Aubrey's juxtaposing efforts) and whenever the pair did talk (fully clothed obviously) Beca had always found herself oddly at ease, which was something she often found difficult around new people.

So really, she could even come to terms with spending that much time around a relatively new person in her life if she tried (though she was sure Chloe would do most of the trying for her anyway).

No, when it all boiled down, her real issue was the overall concept of this plot. Be Chloe's girlfriend to fool her entire family. Beca wasn't even sure she wanted to pick apart the plan, that she was sure had more holes in it than the Titanic. Though then again, as with the Titanic, it's not so much the quantity of holes in this plan, as the size of them. And this one was huge. Beca had no idea how to act around anyone's parents, never mind Chloe's, and on top of that, she was about 500% sure that she wasn't the kind of person the red head would bring home, like at all.

She felt like a prisoner being led to the Gallows every time she let her mind wander to the thought of her awkwardly hugging Chloe's mother and awkwardly shaking her father's hand. She wasn't even sure if the red head had siblings. In fact, she wasn't even sure on the name of the cousin whose wedding she'd be attending, though Chloe had promised her a crash course in her family on the drive down (and Beca was so nervous she'd actually been dorky enough to buy a notebook and pen to keep track of the red heads family tree).

(Then again, given that was the first notebook and pen she'd bought in the entire five months she'd been at Barden, it probably wasn't so much dorky as it was a reflection of her complete disinterest in learning).

Beca wasn't sure how long she'd been lying in her own (completely rational) misery, but it took her a second to realize that there was a knocking on her dorm room door quickly pulling her back to the present.

It took her another begrudging second to realize Kimmy Jin had absolutely no interest in the whole wide world in leaving her laptop to check who it was. With a mumbled sound of protest Beca rose from the bed, hopping over her half-filled case and throwing an unimpressed look at her roommate as she went to the door.

It was Chloe of course. Bright and bubbly as ever, inviting herself inside before either of them even opened their mouths (well, if you're willing to invade someone's shower without asking, then why not their room as well).

Not that Beca minded. Ever since Chloe's first visit to the dorm room, in which she'd ended up on bended knee pleading for a date (and revealing far more than the brunette ever wanted anyone to know), Kimmy Jin had a distinct hatred towards the red head (because yes, apparently the Asian woman could even hate the most lovable person in the world). Therefore, it took all of 2.5 seconds for her laptop to be slipped into its case and carried out the door, along with a swift trail of raven black hair, and smoke rising from the carpet after her.

"How's packing going?" Chloe seemed oblivious to Kimmy Jins departure as she perched herself happily at the edge of Beca's bed (though for it to be a bed it needed to be wide enough to fit one whole person. Beca liked to think of it as more of a plank of wood with some sheets on top).

"It's is ridiculous Chloe," Beca groaned by means of an answer. "I mean I have all this crap packed, and I don't know what I'll need, or what I won't need… it's just dumb." She knew she sounded childish, but couldn't find it in herself to care as she instead opted to throw herself dramatically onto the strip of mattress known as a bed, almost knocking Chloe off in the process.

"We're only going for five days…" Chloe reminded the brunette, smirking in spite of herself.

"I know…" Beca lifted her head from the plethora of sheets she liked to cocoon herself in. "But it's a wedding. I need some kind of fancy outfit for that, and another one for the rehearsal dinner I suppose, and I'm just going to go on ahead and presume it's always summer in Florida, so I need loads of summery clothes, which by the way, I have none of. Though then knowing my luck it'll be monsoon season, or some shit like that, so I need to pack water proof stuff as well and then…" Her rant was in full swing by now, and it took Chloe's hand closing around her mouth gently to shut her up.

"Okay crazy," the red head laughed. "I'd never have taken you as anal retentive… you and Bree may actually get along if you could just overcome your differences." Her teasing earned her a glare, so she moved on quickly. "Look, we have the wedding sure, and if you really want you can come to the rehearsal dinner, though you're by no means obliged to, and I actually kind of presumed you wouldn't be going, so there's that. As for the rest of the time, we can do what you want Beca. You were kind enough to do this for me…"

"Kind enough to do this for you…? Is that what they call peer pressure and bribe's these days," Beca challenged playfully.

"Whatever." Chloe nudged the brunette. "I still managed to convince you in the end, so I'm not going to take you down there and make things even more miserable by dragging you about Tampa against your own free will," the red head promised with a genuine smile that Beca couldn't help but believe.

"So you're not going to take me shopping all the time, and to see all the sites that I could just google image if I really wanted to look at?" Beca queried.

"I'll not even take you out to eat if you don't want to," Chloe swore, placing her hand dramatically across her heart.

"Don't be ridiculous. I come with instructions to be fed at least three times a day," Beca informed her seriously.

"Oh god, you come with a manual," Chloe giggled at the other woman's nonsense. "I'm in way over my head here."

"Well how about you go read up on me and I'll pack a smaller case?" Beca suggested then, a smirk tugging at her lips as she watched the way Chloe's face scrunched with laughter.

"Sounds like a plan," the red head nodded; standing and stretching off the bed. "See you tomorrow around one?" She questioned as she stepped gingerly over Beca's case.

"Thirteen hundred hours. I'll be there," Beca saluted with a wiry grin.

"Wow, how military of you. You really should consider hanging out with Aubrey," Chloe commented; laughing and ducking as a pair of socks were thrown at her. "And on that note, I bid you fare well," she added; skipping from the room and clicking the door shut behind her.

Beca rolled her eyes, still looking at the spot Chloe had stood. This trip would be weird no doubt, but something told her that as long as it were a trip with Chloe, it'd never fail to be interesting, and dare she say it, maybe even fun.


	5. Chapter 5

**Guys you're all the best for reviewing (and for waiting this long for me to update). I've got a shit tonne of school work to do and all the usual excuses (with the added bonus of my laziness) but I promise not to leave it a week again before I update next!**

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"How was philosophy?" Chloe's voice rang out musically across the student parking zone.

The red head was biting back laughter as she leaned against her red convertible, watching as Beca fought with the case she was dragging across the rough ground. She couldn't help but notice how good the brunette looked as well. She was in her usual skinny jeans and checked shirt combo, but today had opted to comb a pair of sunglasses in through her chocolaty locks rather than flatten the hair to her head with her earphones (she was obviously expecting sunshine the second they drove out the gates).

It was something about the way this made the hair fall around Beca's face that caught Chloe's eye though. It seemed to brighten her up, and make the permanent half smirk look more like a shy grin.

"Sucked…" Beca waited until she was right up at the car to respond, not being as comfortable with shouting (and by default drawing attention to herself) as Chloe was. "But I expect nothing less of a class that talks constantly about the great mysteries of our existence," she added with an eye roll that made Chloe giggle.

"Why pick it then?" Chloe questioned as she lifted the DJ's case for her and threw it into the back seat (her own case having used up all space in the boot).

"Careful with that!" Beca ignored Chloe's question completely as her eyes went wide. "My laptop's in there," she whimpered, as if the case being thrown had personally wounded her (you'd swear it was her child Chloe had so carelessly flung).

"You know they have laptops in Florida." Chloe quirked her brow. "Plus facebook won't go anywhere without you on it for a few days," she teased.

"A laptop is wasted on you if all you use it for is facebook and twitter," Beca commented, finally recovering from her shock as she looked back at Chloe. "I have other stuff on there."

"Oh, how cryptic." Chloe paused for a moment, considering what it could possibly be. "Bet it's porn," she finally concluded, smiling happily when Beca's jaw dropped.

"Ew, Chloe! What?" Beca's face scrunched, as the red head pushed herself off the side of the car and moved around to the driver's side, smiling.

"Oh don't ew me," Chloe scoffed as Beca slid into the seat beside her. "We're both grown-ups here, we all do it." She either didn't sense Beca's discomfort, or didn't care.

"You're so weird," Beca huffed. "What I do is my business," she added, her ears now feeling the heat form her face (you could probably fry egg's on her cheeks at this point).

"Oh but sweet heart, for the next five days it's my business too." Chloe fluttered her eyelashes lovingly.

"I will get out of this car right now," Beca dead panned. "So help me god I will."

"I guess rule number one is no pet names then." Chloe feigned disappointment.

"And rule number two is no talking about porn." Beca was firm with her demand.

"As you please." Chloe shook her head smiling and put the car into reverse as they pulled out of the carpark.

They were silent for a while. It was too cold to have the roof down just yet, so Chloe instead rested her arm out the window and allowed the wind to whistle through her fingers as she drove. Beca of course set to work finding a station she actually liked (she'd almost given up hope by the third time she'd come across a station playing Call Me Maybe, and was about to plug in her iPod to something when an underground station playing re-mixes cracked through the speakers).

"So…" Chloe hummed over the soft bass coming from the radio. "What is on the laptop?"

"My music…" Beca replied simply, staring out the window rather than looking Chloe in the eye.

"Seriously? You know it's the twenty first century. You've got an iPod for music." Chloe glanced quickly at Beca to notice the half smirk grow on the side of the brunette's face.

"The music I mix Chloe…" Beca couldn't help but laugh. "I uh… I make song remixes. You know, because I want to be a DJ." She looked across the car just in time to see the red head's lips form an 'o'.

"Shut up you do not!" Chloe was in genuine shock at this revelation for some reason.

"I do too," Beca replied feigning the same shock for a moment before she started to laugh. "I've been remixing songs since I was fifteen or sixteen. I make some of my own original stuff too, but that's not up for listening to," she finished seriously.

"Oh my god… you're like a little ball of mystery." Chloe's slack jawed expression morphed into a grin. "I have a feeling this week's going to be a lot of fun."

"Just don't go too hard on the quizzing," Beca pleaded. "I like my little ball of mystery. It's dark, and murky, and perfectly safe," she informed the red head. "Plus I need to get my questions about your family in at some point before we get there."

Chloe nodded and smiled at the brunette, though didn't reply. She looked back at the road, her mind still on what Beca had just said. Something about Beca not wanting Chloe to find out all her secrets set a challenge in the red heads mind. A goal she was now determine to achieve, with or without revealing secrets of her own (though preferably without).

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Beca had been complaining for an hour before Chloe finally spotted somewhere they could pull in and eat (apparently the brunette had gone from being a perfectly healthy eighteen year old, to the brink of death in a matter of hours). The red head sent her thanks to god as she pulled into the spot just outside the quaint looking diner.

She turned to Beca, ready to tell the brunette that lunch was on her. The other woman was gone though, and Chloe was instead met with a door slamming in her face. She turned, and watched through the windshield as Beca walked to the red double doors leading to the restaurant (though a jog was probably a more accurate term for how quickly she was moving).

Chloe shook her head and followed suit, stepping through the doors soon after Beca, to find the DJ already seated at a table with two menus, and an eager grin on her face.

"Hungry?" She smirked, slipping into the opposite side of the booth and opening her menu.

"Shut up." Beca knew the red head was already aware of the answer, and was merely winding her up - thus taking away from time when she could be looking at the menu.

"You know if I'd known you were this bad I'd have brought snacks with me," Chloe commented, flashing a grin over her menu.

"It wouldn't have been the worst idea." She was only half joking.

"At this rate we'll never make it to Tampa by tomorrow you know." Chloe rolled her eyes, having an uneasy feeling that once she started feeding the brunette she wouldn't be able to get her to stop eating.

"Wedding's not til Saturday," Beca reminded her.

"Rehearsal dinner's tomorrow evening," Chloe countered.

Beca shrugged, and was about to reply when a waitress came to take their order. Of course the brunette's eyes lit up at this site and she instantly lost all train of thought.

Chloe watched with a small smile as Beca rattled off her order, barely even having to look at the menu to know what she wanted. Her face was so animated, so enthusiastic. Even if it was an enthusiasm that stemmed from the thought of the pizza she'd just ordered it was still mesmerising.

"Chloe?" Beca's words broke through her bubble. "Dude, place your damn order before I starve." Beca motioned to the waitress who was standing awkwardly, unsure how to take the banter between the two.

"I uh… the vegetarian pasta." Chloe recovered quickly, pointing out her order to the waitress with a smile, and giving the young woman time to write it down before adding on her drink order.

"Vegetarian pasta?" Beca quirked her brow when the waitress left.

"Mhm…" Chloe nodded. "First little snippet of information, I've been vegetarian since I was ten so if my mother asks where we went on our first date, please don't say a steak house."

"Like hard core vegan?" Beca seemed intrigued.

"Well no… I used to be when I was in high school, but I couldn't afford to have such strict views when I went to college, so not so hard core anymore," Chloe shrugged.

"Soy milk's not as cheap as the good old cow's stuff, huh."

"Precisely." Chloe's lips quirked into a smile.

"Quitter." Her comment earner her a quick slap to the forearm. "Hey!"

"I am not a quitter," Chloe huffed. "I haven't eaten meat in twelve years. And I still only eat animal products if it's absolutely life or death," she added, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well hey, you done better than me." Beca waited for Chloe's eyebrow to quirk with curiosity (it was that predictable now) before she continued. "I became a vegetarian for three months when I was fifteen to piss my parents off," she smirked at the memory.

"… Not eating meat was the best way you could think to rebel?" Chloe snorted with laughter. "That's probably the most middle class thing I've ever heard."

"Hey, it was just a warm up for the master plan," Beca smiled, tapping briefly at the grasshopper on her arm.

"Oh god, tell me you weren't one of them kids that got a tattoo just to piss your parents off." Chloe couldn't help but frown.

"Well no, not exactly," Beca replied, hesitation evident in her tone. "Though that is what I told people to stop them asking me what I got it for." She'd come to the decision somewhere in her subconscious that she was going to be spending almost a full week with Chloe, she may as well open up a little.

"Oh? You going to tell me what it was for?" Chloe's desire to get to know Beca was poking it's head out.

"Uh…" Beca's face scrunched. "It's kinda… personal." Wow this whole opening up thing was a lot more awkward than she'd thought it'd be.

"S'okay, you don't have to." The red head gave her a reassuring smile.

Their food came then. Each woman got lost in their dishes for a moment (Chloe hadn't realized how hungry she'd been as well), and the table fell to a comfortable silence. The red head couldn't help but shoot quick glances at Beca though. She'd never noticed just how intriguing the brunette was before, and only fully appreciated it when faced with the challenge of really getting to know her.

It took her a moment, but finally she realized the obvious way to proceed.

"I've a bug tattoo as well you know."

"What?" (Though it sounded more like "f-wit" with a mouthful of pizza).

"I've a bug tattoo as well," Chloe repeated, shoving her wrist in Beca's face to show off the dainty ladybug that was inked into her skin.

"Congratulations," Beca managed as she swallowed her mouthful of bread and cheese.

"It's an Irish symbol of protection," Chloe continued, ignoring the other woman's sarcasm.

"Why're you telling me this?" Beca placed down the half eaten slice on her plate again, deciding to devote full attention to the red head for a moment.

"Just." She wasn't actually sure herself, but if there was one thing Chloe knew, it was that if she just kept talking her rambling seemed to always make sense in the end. "I figured it'd make you feel less uncomfortable telling me about whatever meaning's behind your tattoo, if you knew the meaning behind mine," she shrugged.

"Oh…" It was all Beca could say for a moment, as she mulled the (not entirely crazy) concept over in her head. "It kinda symbolises moving to a new period in your life without fear… like jumping ahead with confidence or whatever." She felt dumb for having a tattoo that was so deep.

"Why'd you get it?" Chloe knew she was prying now, but had never been one to leave with half a story.

"Why'd you get yours?" Beca countered instantly.

"It's… private." Chloe could feel the blush creep up her cheeks (damn Beca).

"So's mine…" Beca smirked, picking up her slice of pizza and taking a victorious bite.

Again they fell to silence, though now Chloe only picked at her pasta. She wanted to know more, but wasn't really sure how ready she was to open up just yet. It was dumb, and it shouldn't both her, but it did. She took another tentative look at Beca and caught her eye by mistake.

"Oh to hell with it," Chloe sighed, giving in to her curiosity.

"What?" Beca again threw her pizza down on her plate, wondering if she'd ever get to finish a slice in peace.

"I got my tattoo because when I was a teenager there was a lot in my life I felt like I needed protection from, and my mom's half Irish, so it made sense I guess," she shrugged,

"Cryptic." Beca nodded her head but said no more.

"Oh don't hold out too much hope," Chloe smiled. "I'm still the bubbly person you know and love, not even the theatrics of being a teenager could change that." There was no way she was going to do anything but make light of her past.

"Know and get stalked by you mean," Beca corrected, though again, didn't comment further on what she'd just been told.

"Okay, now you're just killing me here," Chloe laughed to hide how uncomfortable she felt. "Do you've nothing more to say?" It wasn't that she particularly wanted to open up, but she could see the glint in the brunettes eye, and knew there was more being left unsaid.

"I'm figuring it out," Beca replied honestly, taking a long beat before she continued. "You just… You never seemed like the one with the twisty past. I mean I know they say the happiest people hide the most tears and all that, but you just seemed like one of the genuinely happy ones."

"I am." Chloe rolled her eyes at how much Beca was reading into this. "I am that happy, bubbly person, I swear. I was never depressed, or reclusive, or anything like that, I just… I just sometimes needed my little ladybug to protect my eternal happiness for me," she shrugged.

"I suppose if I ask why I'll not get an answer?" Beca, unlike Chloe, wasn't a pusher.

"For now, yea." Chloe saw no point in lying. "It's not even that it upsets me to talk about or anything… I just don't want to bring the mood down. Do I really seem to you like the kinda person that can deal with a sombre atmosphere?" She quirked her lip into a challenging smile.

"Not in the slightest." Beca barked a laugh.

"Exactly." Chloe was triumphant. "I'm sunshine and eternal optimism… I bet you can't wait to spend five days with me." Her smile was wicked and knowing.

"I literally think I'd have more fun spending five days with my therapist." Beca's complaint morphed into a noise not unlike a grunt towards the end.

"You saw a therapist?" Chloe was like a moth to a flame at this point when it came to new snippets of knowledge.

"And we've come full circle," Beca snorted. "I did, and that story goes hand in hand with my little grasshopper friend," she explained, pointing once more to the bug on her forearm.

"You don't actually have to tell me," Chloe winced at how pushy she was being. "I'm sure I'll wangle it out of you some other time anyway." (Lightening the mood was always a pretty solid back up).

"No, no… I suppose you told me, even if it was only half a story." Beca shot the red head a playful glare.

"More than you've given me so far," Chloe muttered, crossing her arms over her chest indignantly.

"With that attitude you'll hear nothing," Beca threatened, laughing when Chloe diligently sat forward in her seat and made a zipping motion across her lips (also for the record, Beca so did not think Chloe happened to look really cute when she done so). "When I was fourteen my parents split. For a really long time it was tough for me to cope with it because, you know, you can't be a teenage girl without a good solid dose of angst. So yea, the tattoo's about moving, and like… accepting that it happened or whatever… and being able to do it all with, ya know, confidence… or something." This was the exact reason she'd avoided explaining it before now, she sounded like a tool.

"So articulate," Chloe scoffed.

"Screw you," Beca scowled, flicking a piece of her crust in Chloe's general direction.

"Honey, please, wait until we're back in the car at least!" Chloe timed her retort just as the waitress came to check on their table, smirking as she gauged whether it was their server or Beca that went more red (seriously, did she have no shame?).

"I'm going to put meat in your food." It was Beca's best attempt at intimidation as she tried desperately to cool her cheeks.

"You know there's only one kind of meat I like," Chloe winked and Beca choked on her own saliva.


	6. Chapter 6

**See, what'd I say. Less than a week! You guys are the best for reviewing and reading this story (everything really), so thanks, thanks, thanks.**

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They contemplated stopping for the night and racing to Tampa the next morning, and by "they" it was a lot more Beca pleading and Chloe refusing her than any kind of mutual consideration. Chloe won in the end though. They fought on until three, when finally Chloe's street sign was lit up by the headlights of the car.

"Will your parents even be up?" Beca whispered groggily, having been fighting off sleep for the past hour (she felt bad making Chloe drive without company).

"Probably not," Chloe replied absently, turning the car carefully into her driveway. "I text mom at twelve though and told her to leave a key under the mat."

"You're not just a pretty face then." Beca didn't even realize what she'd said until the words had been left hanging in the car for a minute.

"I do try." Just this once Chloe figured she'd let the compliment slip, not only confident it'd be the first of many this week, but also sensing the way Beca's weary body had stiffened when her mind had finally caught up with her words.

"Okay, curb your ego and get me to a bed." Beca rolled her eyes at the playful grin on Chloe's lips, happy that the red head had apparently failed to pick up on her inadvertent compliment. "And before you say anything; not one with you in it," she added as she got out of the car along with Chloe (apparently the more sleep deprived she became the more euphemisms her mind conjured).

"Yea… about that." Chloe cringed and hesitated, already foreseeing Beca's anger.

"Oh my god." Yup, Beca was mad (already). "What now." Her anger instantly dissipated to exasperation, as she was apparently unable to fight Chloe any more when it came to this trip.

"Um…" Chloe took her time taking the cases out of the boot and back seat, all the while avoiding eye contact as if her life depended on it (then again, with the bomb she was about to drop, it could just be a life or death issue).

"Chloe…" Beca put a hand on her case and pulled it towards her, ultimately stopping Chloe from fiddling aimlessly with it.

"My mother's a pretty uh… forward thinking." (That's right Chloe, break it to her as gently as possible). "And well you see… she doesn't see what's so wrong with us sleeping…" She swallowed hard. "Sleeping in the one bed."

There was a static kind of silence. Beca's mouth opened and closed a few times as words lined up on the tip of her tongue but failed to launch as she each time thought better of what she had to say. If it wasn't for the tension created by this Chloe may even find it funny.

"Oh…" Her eventual answer was more of a sound than actual words.

"Is that…"

"No, no that's not it," Beca cut Chloe off quickly, making eye contact for the first time since she'd been told of sleeping arrangements. "I… is there no way…" She could feel her throat begin to close up.

"I tried arguing it with her," Chloe began. "But I didn't want to make things too obvious either. I mean if you actually were my girlfriend then it'd be weird if I didn't want to sleep with you."

"Fair point." Beca couldn't help but see the logic.

"I mean… you can't be that put off by it, can you? I'm not that repulsive." Chloe was only half joking, having been surprised when she'd realized just how much Beca's seeming unease with the situation had hurt her.

"I'm not," Beca agreed eventually, seeming to come back to her senses. "It's just…" She stopped herself, not wanting to admit that the only issue was in fact that she'd never actually slept in the same bed as someone before, never mind someone as attractive as Chloe. "I'm not," she finally concluded clumsily.

"Good." Chloe smiled to hide her sigh of relief. "Now come on, I suppose I should lead the way."

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The journey from the car into Chloe's house was silent, and remained that way as the assented the stairs. It wasn't necessarily an awkward one although the conversation they'd just had at the car could have easily lead it to be.

Instead it was a lot more comfortable. Each woman was merely lost in mutual thoughts about how they were going to manage sharing a bed.

Chloe saw no real issue of course. If you were able to walk into someone's shower completely naked (twice) then sharing a bed really was no big deal.

Beca on the other hand was a little more apprehensive. Chloe was attractive, and not that Beca was attracted to her (well she was. Or was she? Maybe she only thought she was? Her eyes were pretty though. Yea, but that doesn't mean she loves her or anything. Wow! Love? Where the hell did that word come from? Let's just stick with maybe finding her mildly good looking for now. Not to mention charming, and funny, and smart and… this really wasn't helping) she just didn't know how well she'd manage in such close proximity to anyone really.

These thoughts and worries became obsolete however the seconds she set foot in what she could only presume to be Chloe's childhood room.

"Fuck." Was the only word in her vocabulary she felt truly expressed her feelings towards this bubble gum pink nightmare.

"I told mom to get dad to paint it," Chloe winced turning at Beca's words to face the brunette who looked to be suffering a seizure.

"I can't even." The pink was causing Beca's brain to malfunction. "Is this even real?"

"I assure you it's just as real as my 'I love everything bright' phase was in middle school," Chloe smiled apologetically.

"This may just be the longest five days of my life," Beca groaned, sitting her case up in the corner and taking a proper look at the room round her, adorned top to bottom in colours so bright she was sure she was going to take an epileptic seizure at any time.

"You just wait, by the end of it I'll have you dressing in pinks and yellows and braiding your hair," Chloe teased, giggling at the aghast expression on Beca's face at the mere notion. "You' swear I'd just threatened your life."

"You may as well have."

"Whatever loser… just go get changed, bathroom's through there." She nodded in the direction of the door across from her bed.

"En suite… aren't we fancy," Beca smirked, unzipping her case and pulling pyjama bottoms and an old t-shirt off the top.

"College was such a culture shock," Chloe contrived an alarmed tone.

"I bet," Beca laughed as she made her way to the bathroom door. "I can't imagine Aubrey would have been too keen to have a neon dorm room either."

"I actually wanted our dorm to be the same colour as the bathroom…" Chloe informed her, merely smiling when Beca returned the comment with a look somewhere between confused and scared, opening the door as if there were a bomb on the other side.

The bathroom was blue and pink. Not quite neon shades, but near enough. Near enough for Beca to keep her eyes firmly shut the entire time she changed into her nightwear (which was probably a record best).

"Jesus Christ Chloe." Beca had uttered the comment with intention of referring solely to the bathroom, however when she'd stepped out of the room however, she'd realized the meaning could in fact be seen as two fold.

Chloe had evidently changed while Beca had been getting her eyes burned from her head, and was apparently expecting it to be a warm night. The bottoms she'd changed into left Beca genuinely curious as to whether they would class as underwear or shorts. The top (thankfully) was an old band t-shirt, thus making it at least two sizes too big, though it still failed to take away from Chloe's legs, which seemed to go on for weeks.

"What?" Apparently Beca's leering hadn't been so subtle.

"No… nothing." Beca's words were raspy as she realized how dry her throat had become. "I uh… I just didn't know we were expecting a heat wave."

"You don't approve then?" Chloe smirked, crossing her arms over her chest to challenge the younger woman.

"I…" Beca let out a weak sigh. "I suppose I should have expected it." With the day she'd had already she should probably be more shocked there was anything left to surprise her.

Beca busied herself after that, doing anything and everything she could to avoid looking at the red head, who seemed far too comfortable strutting around in them underwear (Beca had finally concluded that any garment that caused her mind to fall so spectacularly into the gutter could only be classed as underwear).

Eventually she even managed to make it a whole five minutes without thinking anything dirty. Of course just as she reached this milestone Chloe said something that made her choke on her toothpaste (she'd unfortunately concluded that oral hygiene and escaping Chloe's legs was more important than evading the colour explosion in the bathroom).

"So are you a top or a bottom?" Beca could sense the teasing in Chloe's tone, though it failed to stop her brain from malfunctioning as her imagination spiralled out of control.

"I uh…" Toothpaste ran from her mouth, which now hung open, leaving white stains on her chin. "I…" Why was no witty retort coming to mind?

"Beca…" Chloe appeared in the bathroom door. "It was a joke."

"I know," Beca choked out, spluttering as yet more toothpaste dropped into the sink and onto her t-shirt (why the hell was this stuff so frothy?!).

"So sexy," Chloe quipped, watching with a bemused expression as Beca tried desperately to spit into the sink what remained of her Colgate.

"Shut it." (it sounded more like "fuf-fif").

"With an attitude like that I'll not let you choose the positions at all," Chloe baited with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Oh my god… you're blushing!" Chloe's wicked cackle upon noticing this caused Beca to turn a shade darker again.

"I will go home right now," warned the brunette, pointing her toothbrush menacingly in Chloe's direction.

"You wouldn't dare," Chloe smirked. "I know for a fact you're having far too much fun." With that the red head skipped away from the bathroom door, leaving Beca to roll her eyes to no one.

"I'm so screwed," the brunette muttered, wiping the remaining toothpaste off her chin before stepping back out into Chloe's room and sliding awkwardly into the bed next to the red head.

Beca accidentally brushed Chloe's arm with her own when she'd slid in, and the rush of heat that had resulted had caused her to mask a sharp intake of breath with a drawn out cough (unfortunately the rush of heat hadn't been to her face this time).

As a result she now lay as far away from the other woman as possible. Like really, you could drive an artic lorry through the gap in the (small) double bed. She didn't know why she was suddenly acting so silly around the woman she'd gotten used to being around for a minimum of two hours a day, but what she did know was that it took her the best part of five minutes to calm her breathing again, so she was taking no chances.

She was just about to fall asleep when Chloe spoke again.

"I'm cold," she whispered, just loud enough for Beca to make out the sigh of her voice.

"Imagine that…" the brunette snorted. "Still cold even with all the layers?"

"You weren't complaining when you were staring at my legs earlier," Chloe was quick with her retort.

"I… what?" Beca's delicate cheeks couldn't take blushing this often.

"You heard me," Chloe replied confidently, never turning to face Beca when she spoke.

"I've no idea what you're on about." (When in doubt deny, deny, deny.)

"Whatever, liar." This time Chloe rolled away from Beca, now facing the wall. "Can I ask you a favour though?" She added, a lot more sincere this time.

"Uh yea… yea, sure you can," Beca cleared her throat awkwardly, a little off put by the genuine request.

"Um… do you mind if like… if we spoon?" Chloe's voice was so soft Beca had to strain to hear. "I just… I really am cold," she explained quickly.

"I uh… what?" Beca was pretty sure she was suffering cardiac arrest.

"If not that's okay… like it's totally fine, I get it, we're just fake girlfriends and I'm not expecting anything of you," Chloe added instantly.

"No it's… it's…" Beca swallowed hard, slowly tilting her body towards the red head and extending an arm, letting it hover over the other woman for a moment before dropping it slowly over Chloe's waist, as if it were a bomb liable to go off at any time.

"Beca…" Chloe whispered just as the brunettes arm came to a rest. "You know I was fucking with you, right?"

"Yes." Beca's arm shot away so fast she was almost certain she' dislocated it.

"Uh huh…" Chloe giggled. "Night Beca…"

"Night…"

It was going to be a long five days.


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, so I've got a lot of exams coming up the next 3 weeks. I plan to still update this at least once a week, but if I don't manage it, this is just to let you know why. However I will try my best because you guys are super patient as it is and always leave the most amazing reviews.**

**Also: **

_**DCG-Charlie: "O_O let me hug you."**_

***hugs back* thanks dude.**

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Chloe honey, you awake?" Beca's soft words washed over Chloe the next morning, the red head quirking her brow in confusion as she felt the younger woman's arms around her waist.

"Yea… are you?" It took all Chloe had not to laugh at how Beca was acting; convinced her friend was having some kind of weird dream.

"Course I am babe," Beca laughed breathily (what the fuck was going on here?) "Your mom woke me." (Oh…)

"Mom!" Chloe was suddenly alert, turning to face forward, being met with Beca leaning over her, a look of terror in the brunettes steely blue eyes. "You just came barging in?" Chloe could feel her throat dry up as she pushed Beca's face (gently) aside to be met with her mother's warm smile.

"I'm sorry honey I didn't mean to wake you." Dana smiled down at her daughter, an excited glint in her eyes. "I just wanted to make sure you both got in okay last night," she explained.

"She was leaning over me when I woke up…" Beca added; the shock still present in her eyes though she was trying to mask it now with a smile.

"Mom!" Chloe barked. "You can't just… you can't…" She trailed off, unsure of what exactly her mother couldn't do (there was so much to choose from at this point). "We could have been naked," the red head finally concluded, figuring it was the most expected thing to say.

Apparently Beca hadn't been anticipating in though. The second the words left Chloe's mouth the brunette was reduced to a coughing fit as her body went into shock.

"Well you weren't, now were you," Dana pointed out, ignoring her daughter's girlfriend choking to death next to them. "God forbid a mother would come and check on how her daughter was doing," she added, dramatizing a long sigh.

"Okay mom, okay." Chloe silenced the other woman, all the while rubbing calming circles in Beca's back to ease her choking. "I'm sorry, you're right, it was lovely of you to come check on us… creepy and all as it turned out to be," She added. "Just… just give us a while to freshen up and we'll be down for breakfast then."

"I'm making pancakes," Dana informed the pair, standing now that she was satisfied she'd aptly scared the two women. "Oh, and Chloe, your brother's home," she added, just as she reached for the door.

"Adam?" Chloe's face lit up in spite of the overall situation.

"Well unless I popped another child out that I don't remember then yes, Adam," her mother smiled wirily. "So hurry up now, he's staying in a hotel with Amanda and Grace so he'll be heading back there soon." With that she was gone.

"Fucking fuck," Beca wheezed, massaging her throat as her coughing died down.

"Come on, up, up, up!" Chloe giggled, already having jumped out of the bed.

"Wait, we're not going to talk about me waking up to find your apparently psychotic mother leering over me grinning like a maniac?" Beca spluttered, pointing wildly to where Dana had just stood in the doorway.

"You agreed to come here," Chloe reminded her, barely glancing in Beca's direction as she threw a pair of jeans and a t-shirt at the brunette. "Now come on, get dressed, I want you to meet Adam."

"Yea well, I presumed I'd be staying with the Robinsons, not the crazies," Beca huffed, staring bewildered at both garments now in her lap.

"You were obviously thinking about Aubrey's family then," Chloe snorted, looking up at the young DJ for the first time as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. "Oh my god, are you still not up? Would you hurry yourself!"

"My god okay, I didn't realize Adam was some kind of spectacle." Beca quirked her brow in Chloe's direction, though she averted her gaze quickly as the red head began to strip in front of her. "Oh!" Her strangled cry of shock went un-noticed.

"He's my big brother Beca, and he lives in New York, I hardly get to see him anymore," Chloe informed her, seemingly oblivious to the affect her near naked form was having on the brunette. "In fact this is the first time I've seen him properly in almost a year," she continued, bending over to reach for a shirt.

"Uh huh." (Don't look at her ass Beca, don't look at it. Okay maybe look a little, I mean it's a nice ass and you're only human and wow them red lace underwear do wonders for it. Okay stop now. Okay really stop she's standing up! Okay, now she's turning, really stop!) "So who's Grace and uh… Amanda?" (Good save.)

"Amanda's his wife. She's pretty quiet, which I find weird, but she seems nice," Chloe began to explain, stopping when she was interrupted by Beca's laugh.

"God imagine that, someone that doesn't talk all the time… I can see how you'd find that to be odd," Beca snorted.

"Oh shut up." Chloe threw a rolled up pair of socks in her friends direction. "I mean she's oddly quiet," she corrected. "And anyway, then Grace is their daughter. She's six, and the cutest little girl on the planet."

"You have to say that, you're her aunt," Beca pointed out.

"Not one for favouritism, are you." Chloe rolled her eyes as she pulled on a pair of jeans.

"Meh, we'll see. I mean I suppose I'm kind of her aunt in law for the next few days anyway," Beca shrugged, rolling out of bed with her clothes in hand.

"Oh Beca… is this your way of asking me to marry you." Chloe put her hands over her mouth, a wide eyed expression poking out from between her fingers.

"Yea, that's exactly what that was," Beca snorted as she walked towards the bathroom door, not even bothering to get embarrassed at this point. "I want us to get engaged and have a double wedding with your cousin Raquel," she sighed whimsically, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

"It's fucking Rachel!" Chloe shouted after her, rolling her eyes when her words were met with laughter.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Okay, let's do this." Beca stood like a statue facing the closed door that led to Chloe's kitchen.

"You look like you're going to vomit," Chloe muttered, having glanced sideways at her "girlfriend" only to notice Beca was oddly grey.

"I'll let you know if that comes close to being a reality." (was it just Beca or was it getting really warm? Stupid Tampa humidity.)

"You've already met my mom, and I doubt my dad'll be there. It's literally just my brother that you need to acquaint yourself with," Chloe soothed, trying her best not to find the situation amusing.

"Yea I met your mom and look how that turned out," Beca shot back. "My heart almost fell out my ass I was so scared."

"Chicken shits," Chloe mocked, rolling her eyes at Beca's dramatization.

"What'd you just call me?" Beca snorted, trying to muffle the laugh so the occupants of the kitchen wouldn't hear her and come to investigate.

"Chicken shits…" Chloe repeated. "It's an insult."

"Never in my life have I heard that be used as an insult," Beca informed the red head, feeling a smile tug at her worried features.

"Okay, now you're insulting my insults, no more pity for you," Chloe informed her, pushing the door to the kitchen open before the other woman had a chance to protest.

"There you are!" Dana was on her feet instantly, striding across the kitchen in a fraction of a second to engulf both women in a hug, as if it were the first time she'd seen them both.

"Oh!" Beca's squeak of terror at the sudden contact was swallowed up as her face was pressed into Chloe's mother's shoulder (also, not that it was a big deal, but she'd probably also lost at least one of her front teeth when her mouth came into contact with Dana's shoulder bone).

"Mom…" Chloe's muffled voice seemed dangerously close to Beca's ear. "Mom… you're killing us." This time Chloe's breath tickled the inside of Beca's ear, though thankfully she was released from the death hug before she had time to let it affect her too much.

Beca was back to standing pokers straight the second she was released, brushing herself down awkwardly as she tried to avoid the grin Dana was directing at her (seriously, had Chloe been a nun before now or something?).

Instead Beca watched as Chloe ran across the room and threw herself against a man Beca could only presume to be her brother, with matching auburn hair and a smile far too big for his handsome features.

She felt like such an outsider as she watched the two embrace, but wasn't quite sure what else to do. If it were the other way around (and of course, if Beca had a sibling) Chloe would have probably thrown herself right into the hug with them. Beca imagined for a moment Chloe brassily striding across the room and wedging her way into the middle of her hug.

(Chloe's chest pressed firmly against Beca's back… wait what? No, how did she keep getting to this place? What was she supposed to be doing? Oh yea! Chloe was hugging her brother. No… she wasn't anymore, where was she?)

"Beca… Hello?" Chloe called, clicking her fingers until Beca was drawn to attention. "Beca this is my big brother Adam!" She was far too enthusiastic in her introduction, yet Beca couldn't help but be infected by her positivity and smile at her as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Beca I presume?" Adam laughed, his voice deep and warm as he extended a hand to grasp Beca's own limp, sweaty palm.

"The one and only." (Stellar attempt at being funny there Mitchell, top job.) "You must be Adam?"

"That's me. Chloe's big brother." He nodded, letting go of her hand when he realized he wasn't going to get much of a shake in return. "I suppose you've heard a lot about me?"

"Uh… yea…" Beca froze, unsure what she was actually supposed to have heard (goddammit, she knew she should have quizzed her "girlfriend" properly). "Chloe talks about you all the time."

"Even during sex?" His words caught Beca so of guard her jaw literally hung slack as a lump rose in her throat that she couldn't swallow (she was pretty sure it was her lungs or something because she didn't think she was breathing, but she was sure it'd be fine).

"Pardon?" Beca's voice was nothing more than a dry squeak as the sound grated against her throat.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Adam laughed, not even flinching when Chloe gave him a (hard) punch in the shoulder.

"Oh…" (that's right Beca, just swallow your lungs again, they'll probably slot right back into place). "Ha ha?" She probably looked like a deer in headlights, because Chloe saved the conversation a split second later.

"Okay, well I guess that's you two introduced." She ushered Beca to the table at the far end of the room, pulling her by both her hands and muttering "asshole" to Adam as she passed him. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" She chanted quietly, once she'd safely sat Beca down in one of the chairs.

"It's… it's fine," Beca finally concluded. "I should've probably been expecting a lot worse," she pointed out.

"You're a trooper," Chloe whispered, her lips right next to Beca's ear so only the brunette could hear. "I'm going to help mom sort breakfast now, you cool?" She added, standing up straight again, still gripping both Beca's hands in her own.

"I'm cool," Beca nodded, even managing to smile as she spoke this time.

Beca watched then as Chloe returned to her family (no need to call her out on it, she already knew she was watching Chloe a lot this morning thanks very much). The red head seemed at ease in a way Beca had never seen her before. The smile on her face wasn't the same smile she had when they hung out with the Bellas, or when they were half ways through a number and Chloe was just after finishing yet another amazing solo in spite of her nodes.

It was something softer. Something more genuine and innocent. A smile, Beca concluded, could only really be worn when you were in a place you could call home, with people you knew, loved, and depended on.

The smile actually made her feel oddly out of place as she sat and watched the family scene unfold. Apparently she wasn't the only one that felt she was out of place though.

At first she thought she was just crazy (and after spending so long with Chloe already she wouldn't be surprised), but eventually she realized that Adam actually was scowling at her. It wasn't a constant scowl or anything; just every now and then he'd throw a dirty look in her direction, seemingly not caring whether or not she noticed them.

It wasn't in a childish way either (though Beca was tempted to stick her tongue out on more than one occasion). It was more of an I'm watching you kind of look that left her feeling unsafe more than anything.

Still, once breakfast was laid out on the table and Chloe was back by her side chatting animatedly with Adam, Beca found it easy to write off as her mind playing tricks on her, especially when he even shared a story or two about Chloe as a child.

In fact, by the time Chloe's father wandered into the room and Chloe suddenly remembered she needed to go shopping for a last minute piece for her rehearsal dinner outfit, dragging Beca from the room with her; Beca had more or less convinced herself she was merely being paranoid.


	8. Chapter 8

**Yup, school's killing me. I'm trying my best though, and thank you guys for continuing to read this (*dramatic whisper* you guys rock)**

_**Kaycee: "Have I mentioned how much I love this story? Also now I'm super curious about Adam... Good luck with your exams!"**_

**Thank you! And thanks (though a small miracle would be more appropriate at this point in time). Also Adam is slowly revealed over the next few chapters.**

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I thought you promised me a trip free from being forced to go shopping?" Beca sighed dully, as she allowed herself to be led through the department store.

"Next time I'll leave you with my family then," Chloe countered easily, smiling over her shoulder at her friend when her comment was met with silence.

"Touché," Beca nodded eventually. "What're we looking for anyway?" She added after a moment, only just realizing they'd been wandering for at least an hour now, yet had failed to buy anything.

"Uh…" Chloe hesitated; casting a long eye over the clothes section they were in to find something she could use as an answer to the question. "We uh… headpieces," She concluded eventually.

"Headpieces?" Beca quirked her brow. "We're going to get you a headpiece for the rehearsal dinner. Is it the royal family I'm meeting?"

"I just… I really like them," Chloe defended weakly, picking up a blue headpiece, with what looked like half a peacock stuck to the side.

"Name one time ever that you've worn a headpiece," Beca challenged.

"All the time…" Chloe replied, fastening the head piece in her hand to the side of her head and examining herself in the mirror.

"See, I know that's a lie," Beca laughed, looking with Chloe at the red heads reflection in the mirror.

"Oh? Why's that then?" Chloe glanced at her through the reflection.

"Because headpieces for sure do not suit you." Beca was laughing harder this time when she spoke. "You look like you're mother had sex with a tropical bird," she giggled helplessly.

"Yea well I doubt they're much better on you," Chloe countered, unclipping the headpiece and turning to try and place it instead on Beca's head.

"Well unfortunately we're not going to find that one out," Beca replied hastily, dodging Chloe's hands as she took full advantage of her height and ducked out of the way.

"Come on, I'm joking," Chloe giggled, making another move to grab Beca's head. "I bet you'll look amazing in one. I bet you've actually been a headpiece person your whole life and you just don't know," she sniggered, her laughter only increasing when Beca pulled a disbelieving face.

"I have a big head Chloe!" Beca fought, her hands now swiping Chloe's away relentlessly. "It won't even fit me," She promised, losing her balance momentarily when she swerved away from Chloe's hand, only to realize she was dangerously close to the hat stand.

Chloe used this slips up to her advantage though, reaching out with her free hand to grab Beca by the side of the face, holding her head still as she stepped in front of the young DJ to try and fasten the clip in in place.

"Hm!" Chloe stated smugly, stepping back to admire her handiwork. "No you're right… definitely doesn't suit you," she nodded, sucking in her lip to avoid laughter (and also just maybe to avoid awing at the childish scowl on the brunettes face).

"Thank god you cleared that up for me," Beca rolled her eyes, her hands moving instantly to the clip to try and remove the headpiece. "Oh, ow! Jesus! Oh my god I'm going to have to get this thing surgically removed, did you shove it into my scull or something?" She gasped; face contorting in horror and pain.

"You're such a baby!" Chloe snorted. "Here show me, it's not rocket science you know," she added, stepping up next to the brunette again (maybe a little closer than was necessary, but that doesn't really count anyway), and beginning to unknot her hair from around the clip.

"You're hurting me…" Beca huffed out, wincing as her scalp was tugged at.

"Maybe if you'd stop squirming like a five year old…" Chloe rolled her eyes, continuing to pull at her hair.

"Whatever," Beca shot back, none the less standing as still as she could until Chloe finally did manage to unknot her.

"There… now was that so hard?" The red head smiled, gently pulling the hair piece out of Beca's hair and fixing her brunette locks back in place before looking into the DJ's steely blue eyes.

Something weird happened when their eyes locked though. It was something about the way Chloe was grinning down at Beca with a gentle half smile that Beca was returning with a bemused look (that she was desperately trying to control from morphing into a similarly mushy expression). There was just something oddly intimate about it.

One of Chloe's hands was still in Beca's hair too, and the other had somehow managed to position itself in a way that her and Beca's hands were brushing together down at their sides.

It felt oddly raw. It felt venerable. It felt like something that two people pretending to like one another should definitely not feel, like ever.

It was Beca that eventually cleared her throat.

"It was hard," she murmured, her cheeks flushing after what had happened (though she noticed Chloe was a little red looking as well, so maybe it was just the heat in this shop?). "You're in no way gentle."

"God you're such a pain," Chloe teased, rolling her eyes, yet silently thanking the gods for having that moment played down so easily (the feelings she may or may not have for Beca was probably something she should consider looking into any time other than the one week she's making the girl pose as her fake girlfriend in front of her family).

"Don't I know it," Beca agreed. "Now are you getting that or not?" She pointed to the offending item, still in Chloe's hand.

"Uh… no," Chloe smiled weakly, placing the head piece back on the stand and leading the way out of the store.

"So wanna tell me why we're here then?" Beca returned to her original question. "And this time if you try and lie to me at least do it well," she added, already seeing the clogs in Chloe's brain turning.

"I thought maybe you might want…" Chloe began in a rush, not getting very far before Beca silenced her.

"Chloe," the younger woman warned, stopping in her tracks and spinning the red head on the spot so they were face to face again. "For serious just spill. Don't make me use my "you made me come all the way down here card" so early in the game," she warned.

"Promise you won't question it?" Chloe sighed, averting eye contact with Beca.

"No," Beca shrugged.

"Fine then," Chloe rolled her eyes, suddenly annoyed. "Just forget it," she mumbled, turning again and making a move to get away from Beca.

"Chloe," Beca sighed, the puff of air that left her mouth turning into a soft sort of growl as she tried to pull the red head back. "Don't get pissy with me."

"Then don't question me." To be honest Chloe wasn't even one hundred per cent sure herself why she was so mad, she just suddenly felt comfortable with Beca's attack.

"I didn't say I'd question you, I just said I couldn't promise I wouldn't," Beca countered reasonably. "I mean I probably won't," she added.

"Well Jesus would it kill you to just make the trivial little promise and not be such a pain in the ass?" Chloe snapped, rolling her eyes.

"Okay what's the problem here?" Not that Beca hadn't sensed the hostility in Chloe's tone from the offset, but now it was just getting on her nerves. "Why am I suddenly public enemy number one? All I did was make a throw away comment and suddenly I'm getting my head bitten off," she fumed.

"Well like I said if you'd just agreed in the first place and not been such an ass… I just…" Chloe sighed, pinching her brow and taking a deep breath as she tried to calm herself. "I'm just really not in the mood for a Spanish inquisition."

"Fine then," Beca relented, throwing her hands up in defeat. "I promise, no questioning you about what you say." She even extended her pinky as a half sarcastic show of solidarity, only to have it ignored.

"It was because my dad came in." Chloe's admittance was an awkward one to say the least, and even without her general knowledge of social queues the brunette could sense the apprehension and hesitation in her admittance. "I didn't really want you to have to talk to him… to be honest I didn't really want to have to talk to him."

"Oh…" Beca's mouth formed an "o" and she nodded her head dumbly, suddenly extremely aware of each second that ticked by in silence. "That's… right then… okay," she nodded her head again, her eyes darting helplessly around the mall (possibly in search of a fire exit or open window she could dive through).

"It's a long story," Chloe continued, failing to notice Beca's discomfort as she too allowed her eyes to wander. "And it's not something I make a habit of discussing."

"And from my series of nonsensical sounds there you got that I wanted to discuss it with you?" Beca smiled gently at the red head. "Chloe it's cool really… I have issues with my dad too, I get if you don't want to tell me or whatever… I mean we are only fake girlfriends after all," she reminded her friend (and possibly herself).

"Maybe you're not as much of an ass as I thought," Chloe commented, a grin easing onto her features.

"Yea, that was a little harsh," Beca snorted.

"Well, now you know that the whole thing about red heads being fiery is true." Chloe couldn't help but smirk when Beca blushed at her comment. "Not in that way." (Now she was just getting a perverse joy from the shade of red the younger woman was turning).

"I didn't… that's not… I wasn't thinking that," Beca huffed.

"Beca we're all grown-ups here," Chloe comforted mockingly. "It's A-Okay to have grown up thoughts about me." The wink that followed her comment wasn't even intentional; she just couldn't help it as Beca gradually began to look like she was going to combust.

"I… I thought one of the rules was no talking about porn!" Beca suddenly remembered, pointing an accusing finger at the red head.

"Oh… so that is the way you think of me then." (and the way I think of you).

"Oh my god, stop!" Beca gasped (how the hell did every conversation manage to end up with her thoughts in the deepest, darkest and dirtiest corners of her mind?!).

"If you insist… babe." Chloe couldn't help but wink again before she turned again and began to walk.

Beca had to jog to catch up with the red head, her mind apparently unable to process what had just been said to her and walk at the same time. When she finally did they fell into a comfortable silence, occasionally pointing to various stands in shop windows to admire or ridicule what was on display ("seriously who would willingly dress like that?!" "It's called colour blocking Beca, it's part of this wider concept known as fashion." "It's brighter than your bedroom!" "I should have guessed it'd be the element of colour that threw you.").

"I've a question," Beca spoke up eventually.

"Is it to do with why people would be willing to pay so much for something as small as a crop top?" Chloe enquired, thinking back to the conversation they'd had in the previous store when Chloe'd been foolish enough to mention she'd liked one of the tops she saw.

"No actually, I've just decided to give up on fashion," Beca informed her friend, smiling when Chloe barked a laugh. "I was just wondering… and feel free not to answer, but I was just wondering if the thing with your dad was in any way related to your ladybug?" She motioned vaguely to Chloe's right arm.

"It is," Chloe answered simply.

"Oh…" In all honesty Beca had been expecting something more than a two word answer and was kind of stuck on where to go next with her questioning. "So uh… I just… you said in the restaurant yesterday that you were going to tell me what that was about, and like you don't have to just… I yea, I just remember… uh…." (Now would be a really good time to know a method of strangling yourself with the arm of a knit jumper).

"You're so awkward I can't even be mad at you." Chloe rolled her eyes, not seeming too phased by the question as she continued to browse the rack. "I think… being back here has made me realize that I'm not quite willing to talk about it. I mean it's nothing personal it's just… it's something in my past that really sucked and thinking about it and talking about it just isn't really top of my to-do list," she explained vaguely.

"Cool. That's… yea… cool," Beca nodded eagerly, having to physically supress the sigh of relief at having avoided getting shouted at again.

"Oh Jesus, just come on before God takes pity on you and actually does create a black hole for you to be swallowed up by," Chloe snorted, stepping into another store.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The words "The Princess Bride is on" had chilled Beca to the very bone when she'd first heard Chloe's mother scream it. Apparently it was a family favourite, and seeing as Adam was back with Amanda and Grace in tow this time, it had been wordlessly agreed that everyone would sit down and watch it before they began to get ready for the rehearsal at seven.

Everyone but Chloe's father apparently, who'd been called out on a job (Beca was still too scared from earlier to bother asking Chloe what his job actually was), thus meaning Chloe was more than willing to watch the film as well, and in a roundabout way, that's how Beca now found herself arguing about hands of all things.

"Dude, I'm not putting it there," Beca hissed quietly, aware that Chloe's niece was on the floor a few feet away and the rest of her family were in the kitchen with the door lying wide open.

"Beca it's my lower thigh not my v-a-g-i-n-a," Chloe muttered, being extra cautious not to corrupt Grace's young mind.

"I just don't see what's so bad about us just… sitting here," Beca whined. "I mean it's a big couch, we don't need to squeeze."

"Do you forget your entire purpose here?" Chloe dead panned. "We're dating. We're a couple. We like being touchy feely and cute. Now man up."

It took them a further minute to work out a happy medium. Beca's hand slid behind Chloe's back and wrapped around her waist, with one of Chloe's elbows leaning on the back of the couch, her fingers running through Beca's hair casually. Chloe's free hand lay casually across Beca's abdomen, and with that the look was complete.

"Now, was that so hard?" Chloe quirked her brow at Beca; daring her to say anything other than "no".

"Easier than expected." Beca's reply had been expected, the action that followed it had not.

The young woman's free hand wove out from its spot under her thigh, her fingers entwining casually with the fingers Chloe had splayed out across her abdomen. Both women looked for a moment at the interlocked hands (apparently neither had been expecting the move).

"Yea…" Beca nodded eventually. "Easier than I thought." (Okay what? What was going on here? Had she really just done that? She was holding hands… With Chloe when she hadn't even been required too. Abort. Abort this mission before there was no going back).

"I'm glad." (Sound more flirty Chloe, that's great. It's fine to flirt when it's jokingly but for the love of god you could do without a deeply moving admittance of your feelings for Beca just for this one week. She was cute though, with her hair scrapped back in a messy ponytail like that. Not to mention the awkward smile she's got plastered on right now to try and hide her blush. Maybe the next few days wouldn't be so much about avoiding an admittance of feelings so much as avoiding pinning her against a wall and kissing her until the end of time…).

"Chloe?" It was Grace that finally dragged them out of their moment. "Do you and Beca share a bed?" She pondered absently, looking between the two as if she'd never met either of them before.

"Uh… yea, yea we do?" Chloe nodded, curious as to where her niece was going with this.

"Oh good!" Grace grinned manically, turning back to the TV that was still showing adverts.

"Why is that good?" Chloe enquired (at least her niece wasn't homophobic).

"Because…" Grace started, pausing as she became momentarily captivated by an ad for a new type of art set before continuing. "I just really can't wait to be a big cousin."

"Oh my…" Chloe's words tapered off as her mind went blank with shock, though thankfully she was saved the stress of having to formulate a reply.

"Grace honey, you know you can't just ask your aunt that," Adam chuckled as he walked into the room, followed by Alice and Dana who were also smiling at Grace's comment.

"But when you love someone you have babies, and they share a bed, so they must love one another." To Grace anyway her logic was flawless.

"Let's see then." Adam humoured his daughter. "Beca, do you love my sister?"

"I…" Beca was caught off guard by the comment to say the least (and was it just her or did he have a daring glint in his eye when he asked? Like seriously what the hell was up with this dude?). "Yea, of course I do." She tried to ignore the way Chloe's fingers squeezed her hand just that bit tighter for a split second after she spoke.

"You've not been going out that long though?" Adam persisted.

"Jesus Adam, personal much," Chloe berated, a light hearted ring to her tone all the same.

"I guess when you know you know," Beca countered, matching his steely look with one of her own now (Oh two could play at this game… bitch).

"Oh, it's on! It's on!" Grace squeaked suddenly, breaking the deadlock staring contest between Beca and Adam in an instant.

Beca was bored after about thirty seconds. She tried to fight it at first, focusing on the story the grandfather was telling but she'd be damned if this film captivated her in any way shape or form. She hadn't meant to, but probably as a simple natural reaction she'd begun toying with Chloe's fingers just for something to do.

She'd never admit it, but when the read head had tickled the inside of her palm in return, her skin had probably split she'd smiled so wide (and she knew Chloe noticed as well, as she'd seconds later had the words "you're thinking of me that way again" whispered in her ear).

She'd actually been enjoying their odd little flirting game (was it weird to call it that? Probably, but that's kinda what it was, weird and all as it was to admit) so much, she'd nearly managed to ignore the continued looks she was getting from Adam. That was until the movie went to adverts.

"I want popcorn!" Grace piped up from the floor, looking eagerly between her mother and father.

"I'll get that then I guess," Adam laughed, stretching out of the seat. "Anyone else want something while I'm in there?" He added.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind a coke," Chloe smiled at her brother.

"Maybe make a second bowl of popcorn as well Adam honey, there's a few of us," Dana instructed.

"Sure thing," he nodded. "Beca… wanna help me carry the stuff back in?"

"Uh… sure." (Well fuck. This wasn't going to go well).

She rose hesitantly from the couch, actually frowning a little when her and Chloe's fingers slid apart. She followed Adam to the kitchen in silence, and watched as he threw the first bag of popcorn in the microwave.

"Uh, want a coke?" Beca questioned him awkwardly, having gone to the fridge to get Chloe's.

"What's your deal Beca?" Adam countered instead.

"I just want to know if you wanted coke…?" (Jesus, what the fuck was going on here? Were Chloe's family like actually crazy or something?).

"I mean with my sister."

"Oh…" (Shit. Fuck. Shit. Fuck).


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter's short. I apologise in advance. _However_ the next one's going to be a long one and I plan on trying to have it done sooner rather than later, so fear not, this shall not become a recurring thing. **

_**wulfboii: "I love this story. It's made me smile so wide that it's embarrassing. But I love it. Anyway just thought you should know that in this chapter, Adam's wife's name is Alice, but in previous chapters it's Amanda. Just trying to help! Keep up the aca-amazing story!"**_

_**Well this was not part of the plan. For future reference, her name is Amanda (really I was just testing you guys to see who was really paying attention, so four for you).**_

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"I don't really get what you mean…" Beca began slowly, placing Chloe's coke on the counter beside her and turning slowly to face Adam.

"Bullshit," Adam called without hesitation (Christ this guy was intimidating). "There's something up between you two and I want to know what."

"She's my girlfriend dude," Beca replied almost too easily. "Even if there was something up, it's not really your business."

"I beg to differ." Adam really looked intimidating now, even though he was still leaning against the counter with his arms folded, as he had been the entire time. "She's my little sister; that makes it my business if you're screwing her over."

(In any other situation Beca would probably have made a joke about how she was screwing Chloe, though she was normally under her… right now just didn't seem like an appropriate moment though.)

"What the hell makes you think I'm hurting Chloe in any way, shape or form?" Beca snapped; a sudden rush of adrenaline kicking in her fight or flight instinct (and she'd never been much of a runner).

"You're weird around her, like you're not always one hundred per cent comfortable…" Adam began, finding himself cut off by Beca before long.

"Oh, and that could have nothing to do with the fact that I feel weird being introduced to her family like this only to have them jump down my throat for being a little reserved?" (She wasn't sure where that lie had come from, though she sure as hell wasn't complaining).

"No, because it's something more…" Adam pushed, seeming unfazed by Beca's outburst. "It's like a tension between you," he surmised.

"A tension?" Beca couldn't help but scoff at the absurdity of the notion.

"A tension. It's like there's something between you. Something you're both ignoring," Adam pressed on.

"That's just stupid…" Beca brushed off, ignoring the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she knew exactly what he was talking about (goddammit what was it with her and emotions these past few days?).

"Don't try and play dumb with me Beca," Adam warned. "She's my little sister and I know her better than anyone, and whenever she's around you she's not herself. She's different. It's like she's got all this pent up emotion or something, and I don't know how well you actually know Chloe… but the first thing you learn is that she doesn't supress emotions, like ever."

"Oh trust me… I know." Beca couldn't help but smile, even in spite of the awkwardness of the conversation.

"Well then tell me what it is," Adam demanded. "Tell me what it is that's making her act like that around you?"

"You're the one that knows her so well… you tell me," Beca defended, her metaphorical walls having turned into a fully functioning castle, complete with moat and draw bridge, since the beginning of this conversation.

"I think you've done something on her," Adam theorised. "I think you've made her afraid to be herself around you, and if I'm right I need you to step the hell back from my sister and stay out of her life."

"Look," Beca began, never having been one to take bullshit (even if it was only for a fictional girlfriend). "I don't know how the hell you think you have any right to dictate my relationship with your sister, but let's make one thing clear here; it's just that. It's my relationship with Chloe. Not yours." She thought she was done at that, but as Adam went to reply a sudden wave of word vomit spiralled out her mouth before she had time to process what she was saying. "I love Chloe. I really do. She makes me smile like all the time even though she's a little perverse, she makes me feel like I'm a really great person, even though I don't think I am, and she's by far the most beautiful person I've ever laid eyes on. I mean we could spend a million years here and I still wouldn't be able to think on one thing that's made me worthy of having Chloe in my life. So don't you dare think for one second that you've any right to accuse me of even contemplating the notion of hurting her, because if there's one thing Chloe deserves, its happiness, and that's all I ever want to give her." (Wait… what?!)

If the atmosphere in the kitchen had been awkward before Beca's verbal throw down there'd need to be a whole new word invented for the feeling in the room now.

Adam seemed at a complete loss for words, as he stood, slack jawed staring at the brunette across the room from him while Beca… well, Beca was pretty sure she was brain dead or something. The words had just all exploded from the pit of her stomach without warning (like really, no warning what so ever. She wasn't aware she thought all this until about 2.5 seconds after Adam became aware), and now she was at a total loss as to what to say.

Thankfully (or maybe not so thankfully) it was the very red head they'd been arguing over that broke the silence.

"Would you two come one?" Chloe called, bounding into the room and coiling herself into Beca's side, completely oblivious to the tension. "The movie's about to start again," she informed them.

"Sorry…" Adam smiled easily. "We got lost in conversation."

"All about me I hope," Chloe smiled (oh if only she knew).

"Who else," Beca rolled her eyes at the red head. "Now come on, here's your coke," she added, handing the beverage to Chloe.

She was so going to leave it at that, content in walking from the room hand in hand with the other woman (because in coiling herself into Beca's side Chloe had obviously managed to entwine their fingers again as well), but maybe it was a result of her recent (accidental) revelation, or just a reflex from being unable to just walk away from an argument.

Either way the kiss she planted on the corner of Chloe's lips (like not actually a lip to lip kiss, which wasn't so bad… just kinda lower, lower cheek…?) wasn't entirely planned, yet not entirely unpleasant either.

Chloe to her credit only allowed the shock to pass through her eyes for the briefest of seconds before the warmest and most inviting smile Beca had ever seen split across her features (which kinda made Beca want to kiss her again).

"Let's go watch the rest of this film…" Chloe tried to keep her voice sounding casual for the sake of her brother being in the room, yet she found herself fighting back a huskiness lodged somewhere in the back of her mouth regardless.

"Lets," Adam nodded, pushing past the pair with a bowl of popcorn that'd apparently materialized while Beca and Chloe had been staring longingly at one another (not that "longingly" was a word either of them would ever use).

"What just happened?" Chloe questioned in a low mumble, neither of them following Adam to the door as the red head's shocked expression returned, though she still clung to Beca's hand as if it were the only thing still grounding her to reality.

"Long, long story," Beca shook her head, being in no mood to fill Chloe in on the conversation she'd just had (the conversation she'd had with her parents when they'd decided to get a divorce was probably less awkward than that one would be).

"I've time…" Chloe pushed, prodding the brunette gently in the side with her free hand. "I want to know what I done to deserve a lip graze like that?"

"Look, you took me here to play your girlfriend," Beca snapped suddenly, feeling dangerously close to revealing to Chloe what exactly had been said in the conversation. "I'm just playing your girlfriend," she shrugged, ignoring the way Chloe's fingers loosened around her own and the red head's face fell.

"Oh…" Chloe tried to sound upbeat (as if the fake enthusiasm wasn't more of a kick to the gut for Beca than genuine sorrow would have been).

"Just… just come one," Beca sighed, her own fingers tightening around Chloe's refusing to let the contact break. "Let's go back and watch this movie before your brother realizes he only made one of the popcorns."


	10. Chapter 10

**You guys are the best for all your continued love of this story. As promised, a longer chapter this time.**

**Also, to geler7, I've read the review you left (I'm not going to post it here though cos it's basically a thesis) like a million times because it's one of the nicest reviews I've ever gotten. I mean I don't even know where to start with thanking you and all that shit, so just know that it made me smile, like a lot more than is okay. **

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Here's a summary of how the remainder of the film went: It sucked. It sucked ass, but on the plus side, once Chloe got over Beca snapping at her the pair resumed toying with one another's fingers, so complete bust? Not quite.

Still though, Beca would take a million mundane films any day over where she was right in this instant now.

A ballroom. Not just any ballroom either; a ballroom full of people that shared DNA with Chloe, therefor (probably) making them just as perky as the red head was (Beca had been too scared to do proper research on this theory after her first two introductions had ended in hugging).

Beca figured the safest place to loiter was far enough from the "annoying relatives no one really likes" table so as she wasn't actually spoken too by them, but also close enough so no one else dared to come talk to her. It was working too (her father's wedding rehearsal had taught her a lot more than that his wife to be was a bitch).

Chloe on the other hand had happily branched out to mingle (of course apologising profusely to Beca before she left). Not that the brunette minded; after her conversation with Adam, the almost kiss with Chloe and the mini argument that'd resulted, she figured it was safest to keep at arm's length from the red head for now.

That didn't mean she couldn't stare though (like seriously, was it just her or was blue like the hottest colour Chloe could wear? Not that she thought that… actually, yea, she did. There wasn't even a point in denying it at this stage), and staring was exactly what she'd been doing when her loitering plan was foiled.

"You've taken my spot." The voice from behind her caused Beca to start, and she almost spilled her vodka when she done a dramatic jump and turn to come face to face with her attacker.

The man she came face to face with was handsome. Like not "one exception to being gay" handsome, but she could tell he had no problem with the ladies. She could also tell right away he was related to Chloe. He looked nothing like her on the surface, with sallow skin and chestnut hair, but it only took her looking into the guys eyes to tell instantly that they were in some way genetically connected.

"I didn't realize I'd kicked over a reserved sign when I stood here," Beca shot back, playing the guy off cool as she still wasn't sure if he was a hugger or not.

"You didn't. It is however a little known fact that I like to stand just far enough from the "annoying relatives no one really likes" table so as they won't talk to me and also just close enough so no one else dares talk to me." (it was like looking in a mirror).

"Well there's space all around me," Beca commented, making a sweeping motion with her arm. "And I dunno, that old lady over the far end of the room looks like she's got a pretty wide perimeter created around her too," she added, tilting her head to the battle axe in the corner, nursing what was more than likely poison in her frail old lady hands.

"That's my aunt Mary." The stranger explained, following Beca's line of vision. "And there is no safe perimeter with her. She's been known to cross busy streets to annoy people."

"Even better…" Beca shrugged nonchalantly.

"Now you're just playing hard ball… I think we could get along," the stranger commented, smiling enthusiastically at Beca (please don't hug, please don't hug, please don't hug).

"Something tells me that probably won't be happening," Beca shrugged. "But you can keep wasting all these conversations on me if you so wish."

"Oh snarky… I like it." (Not a hugger, just a perv).

"Snarky and gay… still like it?" Beca fired back at him, her eyebrow quirking of its own accord.

"Dammit…" The stranger sighed. "Now I look like a dick."

"Your hair's almost the same colour as your face… I kinda presumed you were a dick anyway," Beca shrugged, insulting this man further being the only way she knew to let him know it was cool.

"Screw you, I'm just sallow skinned," the man glared, smiling none the less. "And my name's Daniel by the way, I'm Rachel's cousin."

"My name's Beca," Beca replied, figuring it was best to give this guy a chance now that he'd stopped his awkward flirting. "And I'm Chloe's date…" (that felt odd to say).

"Wait… you're Chloe's date? She actually brought you home with her?" Daniel's jaw almost hit the floor.

"Okay I can't tell… are you shocked Chloe's gay or that she's flaunting it?" Beca questioned, unsure where the wide eyed look she was receiving was coming from.

"Oh please," Daniel snorted. "I've been best friends with Chloe since before we could walk and when we were in first grade she told me she thought our female teacher had really pretty eyes… I've known since then," he laughed.

"Well, dare I ask why the slack jawed expression?" Beca enquired, intrigued by the stir she was causing with Daniel.

"How well do you know Chloe?" Daniel asked instead (what was it with people and questioning their relationship? I mean you'd swear everyone thought they were faking it or something… oh my god, Chloe's family are psychics!).

"Pretty well…" Beca shrugged, sensing from his expression he was waiting for more of an answer than that. "We both go to Barden and we're both on the Bellas together and I guess we just clicked right away… I mean it's lame but she's kind of my best friend too... ya know?" Beca wrung her hands awkwardly to try and escape from the fact that that was the second admittance she'd made today in regards to the red head (pull your shit together Mitchell).

"Well then you probably know she doesn't like bringing people home… cos of her dad and all." (Well, she could have guessed, but she didn't actually know).

"Oh right…" Beca nodded; yet again stumped by the enigma that was Chloe's father (she didn't even know the guy's name yet).

"Yea, I just figure she must really trust you if she's okay with brining you back here and all." Beca knew she was supposed to take this as a compliment, but it was probably the fact that she knew the alternative truth that really turned her gut when Daniel said it.

"Yea…" Was all she could think to say to cover the semi-awkward silence that followed. "You don't hate me do you?" She blurted suddenly, shocking herself with the statement (though not as much as she could tell she'd shocked Daniel).

"Uh… I've known you for maybe three minutes," he needlessly reminded her. "Why would I have reason to hate you? Have you killed my puppy and this is your way of telling me?"

"Uh no… I just… I dunno, I think her brother hates me, and I want to ask you something so it'd help if you didn't," Beca explained briefly (Jesus, she couldn't have just said that in the first place and saved a whole lot of weirdness?).

"Adam doesn't hate you," Daniel laughed. "He's protective. Like super protective of her because of the whole thing with her dad, and you know, she's his little sister, that's just his job. I guarantee you though, as long as you're not hurting her he'll be fine with you. As for needing to ask me something, I'd love to have a threesome with you and another girl, just not my cousin," he concluded, smiling teasingly.

"Well now it's just awkward cos that's exactly what I was going to ask," Beca dead panned, rolling her eyes to the heavens and causing Daniel to laugh. "Seriously though… I was actually wondering what that whole thing with her dad was. I mean, she's never really uh… told me, and not that I'm being nosey or anything, but I can just tell it upsets her and I dunno… I just wanna be able to know what's going on with her I guess," (Okay, so maybe part of it was nosiness, but the majority of that feelings crap Beca had just spewed was 100% true).

"Oh no," Daniel warned. "Oh hell no, it is so not my place." He shook his head vigorously at Beca. "I don't even know the whole story. I actually think Aubrey's the only person Chloe's ever really told, and Adam kind of just knows be default," he explained.

"Oh…" Beca sighed (so much for that).

"It's nothing you need to worry about though," Daniel tried to comfort her. "I mean it's nothing like… you know… illegal or anything that happened to her. It's just… it's just a thing, and if you want to know more than that, then Aubrey or Adam are the people to talk to."

"So much for that then," Beca couldn't help but laugh. "Whatever chance I had of Adam telling me, Aubrey for sure hates my guts," she explained.

"Now that I can believe," Daniel snorted. "I mean I've met the girl twice, and I'm about four hundred per cent convinced that the fact I've changed majors three times since I started college wants to make her rip her eyeballs out in frustrations." Beca laughed hard at this statement, being fully able to believe it. "She. Doesn't. Know. Me." He emphasised each word, as if even the thought of her irrational hatred pained him.

"Trust me when I tell you I know exactly what you're talking about," Beca agreed, almost ready to hug Daniel just out of the sheer joy of someone else finally understanding how crazed the blonde was (like that's how cracked Aubrey was; Beca was genuinely considering physical contact). "So basically I'd have more chance getting information out of your aunt Mary," she added, almost causing Daniel to choke he laughed so long.

"You can but try…" Daniel motivated once he'd regained composure.

"Try not, fail not," Beca quoted perfectly.

"That was deep right there," Daniel snorted.

"I'm not just a pretty face," Beca informed him with a teasing smile.

"No. I can tell already you're more than just your good looks," Daniel agreed.

"Not trying to steal my girlfriend, are you little cousin?" Chloe's voice suddenly called from behind Beca, her question causing Daniel to laugh.

"Just in time Chloe, I was just about to add how that made you so lucky to have her in your life," Daniel added without hesitation (so apparently social skills were hereditary).

"Oh I'm sure," Chloe chuckled, now having reached the conversation as she wrapped her arms around Beca's arms and rested her head on the brunettes shoulder.

"He's been trying to lead me astray!" Beca feigned shock as she spoke, at the same time sliding her hands up to wrap them around Chloe's palms, the comfort she got from having skin to skin contact with the red head being something she instinctually went in search of at this point.

"Daniel, how dare you try and charm the gay out of Beca," Chloe scolded. "Don't worry babe, we can have wild sex tonight to remind you of how much you like the ladies," she added.

Beca could feel her ears burn at the comment, and was almost sure the heat was traveling through her cheeks as well, but tried to play it off, knowing Daniel would doubtlessly pick up on it otherwise, and comment on it without fail. It apparently worked.

"I so didn't need to hear that," Daniel sighed, pinching his brow and scrunching his features, as if trying to physically push all unsettling thoughts from his mind. "Believe it or not that's not an image of you I wanted in my head Chloe."

"Ew, pervert. I never asked you to visualise it!" Chloe disentangled on hand from the body of limbs she'd created with Beca to slap Daniel across the side of the head.

"But you said it!" Daniel fought back.

"Yea, for Beca's dirty little mind to process, not yours," Chloe shot back.

"Well then next time, say it quietly or maybe not when you're in front of a single twenty-one year old male," Daniel suggested.

"Fine then," Chloe shot him a challenging look before adjusting her head on Beca's shoulder so her breath was floating directly into Beca's ear. "I don't actually need to say anything dirty," she whispered slowly, the hairs on Beca's neck standing on edge. "Your hands tightened around my palms like thirty seconds ago. I already know what's going on up there." Beca's strangled whimper only confirmed her thoughts.

"Well this conversation suddenly became one I want to leave," Daniel sighed, scanning the room around him to try and find another conversation to join. "I think I'm just going to find my table," he conceded, realizing most people were beginning to take their seats now anyway.

"Believe it or not that's actually why I'm here," Chloe informed him. "You're at the same table as me and Beca… and when I say that I mean I made some place card adjustments, but it all worked out in the end," she added somewhat sheepishly.

"I was thinking I wouldn't have been put at a table for the bridesmaids," Daniel snorted.

There were probably about five hundred speeches between each course. Apparently waiting until the actual wedding to wish Rachel and whatever her husband's name was (it began with "J" or "G" or something and really Beca should remember it because it was said at least once per speech. Then again maybe if she wasn't starving to death because of the shitty portion size her memory would've been better) the best of luck in their marriage was too mainstream. Instead everyone and their mothers found reason to tap their glasses and call the room to attention.

Chloe and Daniel of course kept a running commentary on each person giving a toast, with Beca joining in once she'd gotten used to their banter ("Oh, another speech about how in love they are… original." "Hey that's my mom!" "Oh, shit I didn't…" "He's kidding Beca." "Asshole.").

"You know what, I can't take this anymore," Beca groaned after almost two hours. "I'm going to stretch my legs… I'll be back when I see them start to bring out desert."

"You're a wise one," Daniel nodded, having had the same idea himself between the starters and main course.

"Just don't be too long," Chloe smiled at the brunette. "I don't think I can handle Daniel on my own."

"I promise, I won't be," Beca returned the grin.

Her fingers had been woven with Chloe's on the table for the majority of the meal and when she rose from her seat she pulled the red heads hand to her mouth to brush her lips across it and give it a soft squeeze. She could see Chloe's expression melt when she done so and in turn felt her own insides turn to mush, deciding then and there to leave before she went for a kiss somewhere a little more daring (again).

Chloe knew she wasn't being in any way subtle, but she still couldn't help but stare as Beca wandered off.

"You're disgusting," Daniel commented, causing Chloe to jump (she may or may not have been so caught up in Beca she forgot he was there… maybe).

"What? Why?" Chloe enquired, finding his random acquisition odd.

"You're so… in love," he spat out the last two words as if they were a bad taste in his mouth. "It's just sickening to watch."

"Don't be an ass," Chloe chuckled, brushing off the comment and throwing her napkin at him.

"It's true though!" He fought. "The pair of you are just so in love with one another and at first it's kind of cute but seriously… your hands were having sex on that table for a while there," he shuddered.

"You should've seen the footsy we were playing," Chloe once again brushed off his comments (because yea right, like they were true. She didn't love Beca, and Beca most certainly didn't love her.).

"I wouldn't even be surprised." Daniel rolled his eyes to the heavens at her comment.

"Oh come on, give it a rest," Chloe sighed.

"I swear to you I'm not making this up!" Daniel insisted, a little offended by Chloe's lack of belief. "I've never seen you like this with someone before Chlo'…. You two are in love, like for real in love. You can't stop touching one another, but like it's not in a 'I want to be near you all the time' kind of way… it's just like… it's like it's just second nature for you to be so close and like… as one," he tried to explain.

"Okay, now you're just talking out your ass," Chloe laughed, trying in the meantime to push off an oddly unsettling feeling she was beginning to get in her chest.

"Whatever Chlo'," Daniel sighed, unwilling to argue. "Deny me all you like, just don't deny her, or yourself. She really cares about you. I mean even I got that and I still have the mental age of a ten year old most of the time."

"How do you even know?" Chloe snapped back accusingly, feeling an uneasy feeling rise in the pit of her stomach (probably something to do with the fact her cousin was getting closer and closer to saying something she wasn't quite ready to hear out loud).

"Look, I don't know what the deal is with you two, or how serious you are," Daniel began cautiously, knowing that by now he was probably getting on Chloe's last good nerve. "I just know she's the first person in a really long time you've let see past those shiny, preppy, enthusiastic, walls Chloe, and even more than that, I think she's the very first person you've actually wanted to see past them." (yup, there it was… a big, fat, ugly, truth bomb).

"Why does it even matter to you?" Chloe groaned in exasperation. "Since when do we do that thing where we get overly involved in one another's lives?"

"Because Beca's cool," Daniel shrugged simply. "And I'm also pretty sure she's one of those one in a million people that are willing to help you take them walls down whenever you let her."

If it were any other conversation Chloe would have smacked Daniel for staring so smugly at her once he'd concluded his speech. She couldn't though. Instead she felt like a million different voices had filled her head at once. A different question for each syllable Daniel had just spoken and not one of them she was ready to answer.

"Deserts!" Chloe blurted suddenly, her mind having gone into overdrive to try and change the subject. "People are getting their deserts," she realized, watching as a variety of cakes and ice-creams were brought out.

"Thank god you got the hidden message in what I just said there…" Daniel dead panned.

"No… I mean Beca said she was coming back for her desert," Chloe reminded him. "She must be in the bathroom. Immah go get her."

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"Hello? Aubrey Posen speaking."

"Uh hey Aubrey… it's uh… it's Beca. Could I talk to you for a sec?"


	11. Chapter 11

**You won't like me after reading this. You've been warned. Also, I changed the cover image for this story cos I found a cool image online (neat, huh).**

_**Dear blackindiaink,**_

_**Your review was amazing and I took a screen shot of it.**_

_**Sincerely, Me.**_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

One thing Beca had learned early on in life was that being objective and thinking ahead were not her strong suits.

Punching that kid in the face in third grade rather than asking him to get out of her seat? Not thinking ahead. Screaming at her father until she lost her voice when she could have just sat down and had a civil conversation about why he was being a dick for leaving her? Not thinking ahead. Being dumb enough to tell her parents her plans for after high school when she could have just snuck to LA? Not thinking ahead.

Calling Aubrey Posen to talk about Chloe when she could have just formulated some plan to get information out of Adam (or talk to Chloe again, or ya know, just not be so nosey)? Probably the pinnacle in her life that was disastrously barren of forward thinking.

"Hello? Aubrey Posen speaking." Aubrey sounded busy, though then again, Aubrey always sounded busy (probably even when she talked in her sleep).

"Uh hey Aubrey… it's uh… it's Beca. Could I talk to you for a sec?" No point in backing out now (she'd probably get called back the second the blonde realized who it was anyway, and then there really would be a problem).

"I'm in the middle of a paper Mitchell and I have to get it done tonight because I'm going on a hike with my mother tomorrow." Beca could practically feel Aubrey's frustration at her (great start). "This better be the most important conversation of my life."

"Uh…" (rip off the band aid Beca. Just rip it off). "I really like Chloe and I need to ask you a question." (well that was one way of doing it).

"You have my attention." On paper Aubrey's sentence sounded calm, cool, and collected as usual, though Beca had heard the sharp but subtle intake of breath in the deathly silence that'd followed her admittance.

"Well I guess I've liked her since I joined the…" Beca began awkwardly (already about 500% unsure on how to continue the conversation).

"No!" Aubrey all but screamed. "No, no, no, no. I do not need the nasty details of why you have the hots for my best friend," she scolded. "Just…" She sighed. "Just what is it you want to ask?"

"Oh right… well… uh," Beca wasn't entirely sure how exactly to ask the question (the way she'd brought it up with Daniel hadn't been her most genius move).

"Spit. It. Out." Apparently even when she was interested in the topic being discussed Aubrey didn't have time for Beca.

"I wanted to ask you about her dad." There was no point in trying to sugar coat it, at least not with Aubrey.

"No." Aubrey's refusal was firm and to the point. "We're not talking about that, and to be honest, you shouldn't even be bringing it up."

"No, but Aubrey…."

"But nothing Beca. I'm not having this conversation with you," the blonde cut her off. "I'm going to go finish this paper before I lose my train of thought completely."

"I think I'm in love with her." Beca could practically hear her heart skip a beat in the silence that followed (maybe she should just get her tongue surgically removed?).

"What did you just say to me?" Aubrey questioned after a moment, sounding like she'd just woken from a coma.

"I'm not repeating it Aubrey." Beca shuffled awkwardly on the tiled floor of the toilet cubicle, thankful that she'd heard no one coming in.

"Well Beca you can't just say a thing like that." Aubrey sounded angry. "You can't just go around throwing words like "I love you" into conversation. She's my best friend, and I swear to god if this is just some way for you to find out about her family I will do things so unspeakable to you, you'll wish you were never born." (yea, she was definitely angry).

"I'm uh… I'm not lying…" Beca wasn't sure why she was so scared (what, with being hundreds of miles away from the blonde and all that), all she knew was that right now she was glad it was a bathroom stall she was in, cos she was sure she was about to shit herself.

"Good." Aubrey still sounded angry, even though apparently her qualms had been settled. "Now what was it you wanted to know?"

"About… about her dad."

"And what do you know already?" (Beca got the feeling she was going to get more questions than answers in this conversation).

"Very little actually. I don't even know the guy's name," Beca confessed, sounding dumb in her admittance. "All I know is that his presence in a room makes Chloe uncomfortable, and the mention of him makes her like this whole different person… yea actually that's what it is. She's like a whole different person when she's around him, and not in like… a good way or whatever. She's like… reserved and uh… unhappy and stuff."

"And is that not enough to know?" Aubrey sighed, hating herself for actually feeling a twinge of sympathy and responsibility towards Beca in her efforts in finding out more about Chloe's family.

"I want to help her Aubrey…" Beca confessed quietly.

"What if you can't?" Aubrey challenged.

"Then I don't want to be the person that walked away without giving it my all," Beca shrugged honestly, even though no one could see her.

"I'm not giving you the whole story Beca," Aubrey warned, though even the way she said it made Beca hopeful that she'd get something out of the blonde. "You need to ask Chloe for that."

"I will… I promise."

"Chloe and her dad never got along," Aubrey began, making a noise when she started that let Beca know how much she hated talking about her best friend behind her back. "Her dad was big into sport but Chloe preferred dancing and singing. He liked to take her and Adam fishing at the weekend, but then Chloe decided she was vegetarian and wouldn't go fishing and wouldn't even eat what her dad brought home. Then something just… something happened and that's the thing I'm not going to tell you about, and well yea… I guess you could say there's no going back for them."

"Oh…" Beca wasn't sure what else would be appropriate to say.

"You said you wanted to be there for her?" Aubrey continued once she'd realized Beca's input was going to be no more constructive than that one syllable.

"Yea…"

"Well then do just that. Be there for here Beca," Aubrey demanded. "She'd never admit to it, and she sure as hell never shows it, but Chloe needs someone to hold on to as well. She may not be up for telling you just yet, but if you're there for her, and if you let her know you love her then she will, and you need to be there when she does."

"See therein lays the problem," Beca interrupted. "She doesn't know I love her, and I don't plan on telling her."

"I should've had you pegged as one of these emotionally closed off people," Aubrey groaned.

"It's not like that!" Beca tried to defend. "We're just friends, and I'll be there for her as a friend, but that's it."

"That's exactly how it is Mitchell!" Aubrey snapped. "You love her and you're too much of a chicken to admit it. What if I said she liked you back? What then?"

"Then nothing," Beca insisted. "It doesn't matter how she feels about me, my stance remains unchanged."

"You're literally the worst human being ever." Aubrey groaned. "I mean just as I was beginning to think you weren't all bad. Why wouldn't that change anything? Why?"

"Because things work the way they are." Beca was trying so desperately to make Aubrey see her way of thinking, even if she knew it was in vain. "I'm happy with our friendship the way it is."

"No you're not," Aubrey scoffed. "You're not, and she's not, and one of you needs to do something about it before the sexual frustration kills everyone."

"If I take that chance and it doesn't work though…" Beca could feel a lump rise in her throat, but was determine to push it back. "I can live with her not being my girlfriend Aubrey. It'll kill me, but I can do it. I really don't think I could cope without her being my friend though."

"If you really love her the risk's worth taking," Aubrey told her simply. "Just think about it Beca. Just think about everything and whatever you do, don't you dare hurt her." Beca didn't even get a chance to promise she wouldn't before the line went dead.

Beca felt like a whole new person when she walked out of the stall. She wasn't sure if it was in a good way, or a not so good way, all she knew however was that a lot of things had become clearer, and of course a lot more things were hazier than ever. Not that it mattered though. She still had the rest of a rehearsal dinner to get through, and a hot (fake) date to flirt with.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Beca hadn't been in the first two bathrooms Chloe had checked. Then again, knowing Beca (and she did know Beca), this shouldn't have been at all surprising, given the fact she probably wanted to A) make sure no more of Chloe's annoying relatives invaded her personal space and B) wanted to be as far away from the party in general as possible.

That's why she was at the door of the bathrooms in the hotel lobby now. The sound of the chatter from the ballroom was a fuzzy blur behind her as she pushed open the door noiselessly.

At first glance the room was empty, and she was about to turn on her heel and try the bathrooms on the first floor when a sound caught her attention. It was the clacking of heels against tile, and Chloe knew for a fact Beca was wearing heels because she'd complained for almost an hour about it.

This would have been her cue to call out for the brunette, to make her presence known. Something stopped her though. A feeling somewhere in the pit of her stomach that let her know she'd possibly be interrupting something if she were to do so.

She was right.

"It's not like that!" Beca sounded like she was defending herself against something. "We're just friends, and I'll be there for her as a friend, but that's it." Oh… that's what she felt so eager to deny then.

Chloe knew she should leave. She really did know that, but it was basic human nature. An overwhelming urge to know what people said about you, especially if said person was someone you were quite possibly falling (or fallen) for.

"Then nothing," Beca still seemed to be on the defensive. "It doesn't matter how she feels about me, my stance remains unchanged."

Chloe felt her heart drop to her ass when Beca spoke. Like really, it was a literal feeling of something falling all the way through her (maybe it was her soul? Or her hopes and dreams?).

"Because things work the way they are. I'm happy with our friendship the way it is." Now the brunette really just seemed to be rubbing it in.

Chloe couldn't listen to another word. She was careful to remain absolutely silent as she left the room, allowing herself to fall apart a little as she leaned against the wall outside (not too long though, that could be done tonight when she was sure Beca was asleep).

She had about all of thirty seconds to pull herself together as well. She could hear through the door as Beca pushed the door of the stall open and stepped out, mulling around the bathroom for a moment before heading to the exit.

If anyone had been watching Chloe in the seconds before the door swung open they'd probably presume her to be crazy. The frown that aged her face at least five years and made her look like a kicked puppy all at once dissipated instantly, being replaced with a beaming smile the second the door swung open.

"Hey!" She greeted happily, catching Beca off guard for a second. "I was just coming to get you… deserts being served and you didn't come sprinting back into the room… I'd presumed you'd died."

"The only time you'd ever need to fear for my life was if you were to actually see me sprint," Beca chuckled, being put at ease instantly when she'd realized it hadn't in fact been an axe murderer waiting for her when she'd opened the door (of course the logical, and far less frequently used, side of her brain could have told her this anyway if she'd factored in it was a public and busy hotel she was in).

"Whatever, just come on," Chloe rolled her eyes playfully at the DJ, kicking herself for the butterflies that rose in the pit of her stomach when Beca linked their fingers and led the way back to the ballroom.


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, big things happening in the next chapter. Also, "gingerland" is a place me and my cousins invented to make fun of my best friend, so that's where the creative notion for that came from.**

_**Guest: WHY. WHYWHYWHYWHYWGTWUYHWYHWWBDN. YOU ARE MAKING ME WANT TO CLAW MY EYES OUT (in the good way... If there is a good way..?) WHY IS THIS FIC SO GOOD AND THEN YOU GO AND MAKE CHLOE THINK NOOOONONONONO BECA LOVES YOU DON'T THINK OTHERWISE AAAAAGGHHHHHGGGHFWJDBIRHEBDN *screeches***_

_**Did I break you?**_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Longest day of my life," Beca dead panned, the blinding brightness of Chloe's room being the most welcoming sight in the world (who'd have thought it) when she finally stumbled through the door and onto the mattress at one that night.

"Tell me about it." (Like really, Chloe would love to fucking know how a day that started with them eating breakfast and watching films with her family had ended in her getting her heart broken).

"Your family sure know how to talk," Beca continued, of course remaining oblivious to the side tone of seriousness in what Chloe had just said.

"Well you know I had to get it from somewhere," Chloe teased easily. "Though I think it's even sucked some of the life out of me. I'm gonna go get ready for bed," she added, already having scooped up her pyjamas from where she'd thrown them on the floor that morning.

"Sounds cool… I'll get changed while you're in there," Beca nodded, realizing that for once Chloe was actually planning on changing out of her line of sight (although it was probably for the best Beca couldn't help but feel robbed of the sight of Chloe's muscular, toned back).

If Chloe was the kind of person into psychoanalysing, she would have said that closing the bathroom door (and thus separating her and Beca for the first time in two days) had been like ripping off the façade she'd been wearing all night. Psychoanalysing was Aubrey's forte though and she wasn't here right now.

She considered calling Aubrey for the briefest moment, but decided against it, not only knowing how much her best friend resented being woken (especially if the topic was Beca), but also being acutely aware of just how thin her bedroom walls were (the last thing she needed was for Beca to realize Chloe had actually been dumb enough to get emotionally attached to her).

Instead she sunk towards the ground without so much as a soft thud when her ass made contact with the tile. She drew her legs up to her chin, wrapped her arms around her calves and bit in hard to her knee, allowing the skin that had become exposed when her dress slid up to muffle the whimper that fell involuntarily from her lips.

She just stayed like that for a while. She didn't try to wipe away her tears, didn't try to stop herself from replaying the moment over and over and over again, she never once tried to pull herself together. Instead she just sat, alternating between biting down on her knee and stuffing her pyjama t-shirt into her mouth to stifle the noise.

She just needed to cry. She just needed to let some of her emotions out before she went back into the other room and faced her Beca. Her friend Beca. Just her friend; nothing else (god this sucked).

She wasn't nearly done with her pity party when she began to actually get changed. She knew Beca would doubtlessly ask her if she was okay if she stayed in any longer though, and the last thing she needed was for the DJ to question her on why she sounded like she'd been crying.

(Not that lying to her wouldn't be easy enough. Beca was the kind of person that could make herself awkward, and probably wouldn't ask too many questions anyway. Still though, it was always nice for your friends to think you were at least a little sane.)

"Pull yourself together girl," she muttered as she examined her red eyed reflection in the bathroom mirror. "Game face, game face, game face," she chanted softly then, shaking herself of all remaining negativity and turning to click open the door.

"Did the toilet pull you through to ginger land or something?" Beca questioned, looking up from the battered copy of To Kill A Mocking Bird she'd apparently started to read while Chloe had been getting changed.

"What?" Chloe quirked her brow at the brunette, indicating for her to explain her comment further.

"My cousin Louise was ginger," Beca began, dropping the book to the floor beside the bed as she turned her full attention to Chloe. "We used to all tease her and say that ginger's lived in the toilet… we done it as a joke obviously, but it kind of became its own world almost, like Harry Potter only not as cool."

"Oh?" Chloe couldn't help but be intrigued by what she knew would turn into a rambling tale, even if she was supposed to be mad, and perched herself delicately on the opposite end of the bed.

"Yea," Beca nodded, smiling and sitting up in the bed as she got into the story. "You see you could only get to ginger land if you were ginger, that's how no one else knew about it. You had to have passports and everything and basically any ginger person just had to stand in the toilet bowl and flush it and you'd be transported there. It was like a safe haven for gingers everywhere where they made fun of us regular folk, and they could lie out in the sun for as long as they wanted without getting burned," she explained, obviously enthusiastic about the imaginary world.

"I think I love… that story," Chloe smiled, swallowing the word vomit (and maybe even the actual vomit) that had risen in her mouth.

"Yea well…" Beca hesitated, sensing an awkward air that had suddenly fallen on the room. "Back in my day all we had to entertain ourselves with was our imaginations," she quipped, causing Chloe to snort with laughter.

"You're such a loser," Chloe giggled, swatting Beca playfully on the arm (Okay come on now, how the hell was she supposed to stay mad at someone so adorable?!).

"Well hey, it's working," Beca replied, her mile growing as Chloe's infectious happiness radiated through her.

"What's working?" Chloe inquired, crossing her legs on the bed now as she began to get comfortable.

"Being a loser. It's making you smile again," Beca informed her. "You haven't smiled properly since the deserts were brought out after dinner," she added, when Chloe seemed just as confused. "Your smiles were fake. I could just tell."

"You psychic now?" Chloe didn't mean to sound in any way defensive when she spoke, but she did anyway.

"No, just worried about you," Beca confessed, for some reason not seeming or feeling awkward or nervous when she opened up. "You're like a little light Chloe and everything else just seems darker when you're not lit up."

"I can't always be happy," Chloe shot back instantly.

"I know. I'm the last person you'll ever need to preach to about that kind of thing. I know better than most how hard it can be to be happy all the time," Beca comforted. "I just want to see you happy as much as I can," she added honestly.

"Little optimistic don't you think?" Chloe pondered sadly as she lay back into the pillow and faced the ceiling now instead of Beca's (oh so kissable) face.

"Nah," Beca dispelled. "I've got loads of witty anecdotes about my childhood… I'm set for life."

"So now you're going to be here for life to look out for me?" After hearing what she' heard earlier Chloe couldn't help but consider this the worst form of torture; being fed lines she knew were lies, but wished with every fibre of her being was the truth.

"Well, as long as you'll let me anyway," Beca replied after a moment consideration. "And I guess it'd be pretty cool if that were for life."

"I'll think about it," Chloe replied light heartedly, moving herself until she was under the covers and turning then to face Beca once more, watching as the brunette done the same and lay to face Chloe.

"I'm a pretty great catch," Beca pointed out teasingly. "You'll cave eventually."

"Oh an ego, you're losing points already." Chloe shook her head disapprovingly, all the while supressing a giggle that finally exploded from her lips in a burst of air when Beca rolled her eyes.

"I dunno, I think the amount I make you laugh is gaining me more points than I'm losing," Beca reasoned.

"A fair point I'll never admit to," Chloe shrugged. "Now hush, I've a wedding to go to in the morning. I need my beauty sleep," she only half lied (it was getting to that hour where she was becoming so tired she wasn't sure she had it in her to be upset about what had happened anymore).

"You're always beautiful." Beca's words were so soft that if Chloe hadn't seen the brunettes lips move she'd have been sure it was her overactive imagination.

It wasn't though. She'd actually said it. Those words had actually come from Beca Mitchells mouth, and from the surprised look that had followed them, Beca hadn't been expecting them to either.

"Beca…." Chloe began, biting down softly on her lip as she contemplated what she was quite possibly just about to say.

"Sup?" The brunette hummed back to her, her smile oddly dopy as her eyes wandered over Chloe's face.

"Uh… never mind actually," the red head suddenly relented, a violent wave of stupefying fear washing over her.

"Tell me," Beca threatened softly, trying her best to cover her apprehension over what Chloe may or may not be about to say. "Or I'll have you deported from ginger land," she added, trying to ease the tension.

"I just…" She faltered again, knowing she was about to make a mistake (I mean why bother? Why bother to ask if there was something between them or if there ever could be something between them when she already knew the real answer. It was just her mind trying to convince her there was still hope there). "Would it be weird if I asked you to hold me?" (Okay, so a confession was out the window, but hell at this point she was well and truly shot in the foot when it came to her feelings anyway. A little indulgence wouldn't kill her, right?)

"Uh…"

"It's nothing weird!" Chloe added quickly, knowing how it must have sounded to someone as emotionally detached as Beca tended to be. "I just… You're right, I was upset tonight and I know you probably won't get this, but I kind of just want a hug."

Beca stared at her, dumbfounded, for what was probably the longest minute in recorded history. In fact, by the time the young DJ actually moved, Chloe was seriously considering checking to make sure a second head hadn't spontaneously sprouted from the side of her neck (it hadn't… she may or may not have subtly felt for one).

Even when Beca did move, there were probably dust particles that felt uncomfortable at the jittery and robot like movements in her arms (easy knowing Beca had never in her life been required to instigate a hug).

"Is this killing you or something?" Chloe really did try her hardest not to laugh when she spoke (like seriously, stay mad at this? How was that even possible?).

"I got this," Beca silenced her. "I'm cool."

She actually did seem kinda cool once her hands made contact with Chloe's shoulders (apparently the lack of explosion or locust plague upon initiating contact had calmed her somewhat). She even pulled Chloe in closer to her chest, allowing the red head to lay down, using Beca's shoulder as a cushion and draping her arms freely across the DJ's midsection, as Beca's hand tangled in her auburn locks and the other rested on Chloe's forearm.

It was warm. It was welcoming. It was a feeling Chloe hadn't been aware she'd needed. The way Beca's body slowly relaxed and their two forms moulded together until they were more or less the one shape (cheesy as fuck, but what can ya do) lying silently. Chloe's mind for the first time all night allowed itself to be shut off, the gentle thud of Beca's heart and the soft rise and fall of her chest soothing the red head until she felt her eyes begin to droop.

She should still be mad, and she probably would be come tomorrow, when Beca's warmth wasn't there to elude her into a belief that what she had right now in this moment would be permanent. For now though she allowed it. She allowed herself this one indulgence in the knowing it'd never last.

"Chloe…?" Beca's whisper was sometime after their initial sleeping arrangement had been established, though it was more a formality than anything, as the rhythmic rise and fall of the red heads chest told her that the woman on top of her had been asleep for some time. "… I love you," she muttered, so quietly that even if Chloe had been awake the words would have been nothing more than a nonsensical murmur. "Maybe someday I'll even say it to your face," she added after a moment, smiling at the absurdity of the notion before pulling the red head closer to her and shutting her eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay so I'm not really sure on what makes something worthy of a "trigger warning" per say but I suppose it varies from person to person. Just so you know though there is a trigger warning in this chapter for reference to violence.**

_**Megan: I usually only read complete stories because i am the most impatient person in the world and go straight through stories without stopping. and the fact that i absolutely hate when an author starts something great and doesn't finish it, so please hurry and update because i really love this story!**_

_**I feel you dude. The bane of my life is authors that stop updating. I mean I can't promise instant updates or anything (as previously mentioned) but I do promise no matter how long I go between updates I will never leave this story unfinished. Ever.**_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Up! Up, up, up, up, up!" Beca hadn't been drinking that much the night before, yet the hollering of Chloe's mother as she marched down the hall banging on the bedroom door went through her.

She didn't move though. As much as she wanted to run after Dana and demand she be allowed to stay in bed another half hour (at least) she didn't. She didn't know why at first either. She just knew moving wasn't the wisest option.

It didn't take her long to put two and two together though.

"That was my darling mother, wasn't it?" Chloe grunted, her lips moving against Beca's collarbone, which lay exposed from where her pyjama top had slipped.

"You're darling mother," Beca repeated to clarify, trying to cover the shock she'd received upon feeling Chloe's damp breath on her skin.

It's not that she'd forgotten last night. It's not even that she was surprised Chloe was still lying on her (if anything she was a little thrilled). It had just taken her brain a few moments longer than it should have to piece all the snippets of information together into a completed jigsaw.

"Well then that's probably our cue to get up," Chloe groaned, shifting her body in a way that caused Beca's to move along with it.

"What part of her chanting the word "up" at us gave that away?" Beca teased, reluctantly withdrawing her arm from around Chloe's neck.

"Nuh uh," Chloe warned, pointing a threatening finger at Beca as she sat up and rubbed sleep from her eyes. "No mocking. Not today. Today I have to deal with an entire day of Rachel…"

"It's Raquel," Beca corrected, a manic grin contorting her features when Chloe shot her a murderous look.

"I will end you," the red head dead panned. "I've to spend an entire day with her today. An entire day. You need to be nice to me. Like super nice. Like I need you to pretend I'm your light and savour. Got it?"

"Why do I get the feeling today's not going to be fun…?" Beca queried hesitantly.

"Because you're pretty accurate in your deductions," Chloe replied curtly, sliding herself out onto the floor. "Now I'm going to get ready and all that jazz, cos I've to be at Rachel's house in an hour," she added, opening a drawer and pulling out a worn pair of tracksuit bottoms.

"Kay… am I going with you?" Beca questioned, already half presuming the answer would be a yes.

"No." (oh… well shit, there goes that). "You're going to need to stay here cos mom or Adam are your only means of transport to the chapel later," Chloe explained as she searched for a pair of socks. "That okay?" She added, not really looking like the thought of it not being okay phased her in the slightest.

"Right… yea… cool." Beca tried to cover the look of horror that set on her face.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Chloe you'll at least eat something proper before you go," Dana prompted, trying her best to waft the fumes of her baking in her daughters' direction.

"I'm running late mom," Chloe replied, not looking up as she stared intently at the toaster (because that'd make it work faster), waiting for her solitary piece of toast to pop.

"But Chloe…" Dana began, apparently intent on changing her daughters mind (like even Beca could see the "I'm about to give a speech" look in her eyes, and it wasn't even her mother).

"No mom," Chloe silenced, grabbing the toasted bread when the metallic popping noise finally signalled that her breakfast was ready. "I really do need to go… I'll see you later though," she half apologised half brushed off, grabbing her food between her teeth and snatching her bag from the counter.

"Oh well fine…" Dana huffed, resigning herself to defeat. "See you after the ceremony," she agreed reluctantly.

"See you then mom," Chloe smiled, waving as she walked to the door. "See you later Bec's," she added, crossing the room quickly and planting a soft (and crumb encrusted) kiss on the side of Beca's mouth (oh, so that was a thing they done now then?) before she half ran to the door.

"See ya," Beca agreed just as the door snapped shut (what could she say, the kiss had thrown her).

"Looks like it's just me and you then Beca honey," Dana smiled, lifting a plate of pancakes off the kitchen counter and bringing them to the table, placing them between herself and Beca as she sat down.

"Looks like it," Beca nodded awkwardly, her mind screaming at her to create any kind of conversation.

"I suppose now's my chance to get to know the girl that's stolen my daughters heart a little better then." (Oh shit. Shitty, shit, shit).

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Chloe didn't dare let out her shuddering breath until she was shut up safely inside her red convertible (roof up right now for her own need to feel secure).

It was like that feeling people got in the pit of their stomach before they had a panic attack (only she'd never had a proper one before, so she couldn't be sure). It was nauseous and horrifying, and she wanted more than anything to scream. She couldn't though. That'd be weird, and would probably have half the street out in seconds, their ears pricking at the slightest inkling of gossip.

Instead she sat in the car, not trusting her shaking limbs enough to turn the key. She sat and she pondered and replayed the events that had unfolded in the past twenty-four hours.

She could still feel the cutting pain Beca's words in the bathroom had caused her. She could still envision every black speck of dirt on the cream and blue tiled wall that she'd stared at as she'd eavesdropped. Every second swam around in her mind, bashing against her scull pushing down all rational thinking to a deep, dark corner.

Worse still she could still feel the ghost of Beca's arms around her. She could still smell the vodka off Beca's breath infused delightfully with the brunettes natural coconut scent. In her head Beca's initially awkward movements played like a scene from an adorable rom com, and her muffled and mumbled awkward half sentences proved the perfect back track to the scene.

To put it less poetically; the entire situation well and truly fucking sucked.

Worse still she'd dreamed about it. Not "it" as in the bathroom or even as in any of their half kisses and lingering hand holds. No, she'd had a dream much more frightening. A dream in which Beca had confessed her love and she'd happily returned it in an instant.

("Chloe…?" Beca's angelic dream like voice, which was a little less rough and sarcastic than her normal one, whispered. "… I love you." Chloe, or dream Chloe anyway, had been able to feel her heart beat like a marching drum in her chest.

Worse still, dream Chloe had returned the sentiment without hesitation and had proceeded to fall down in a field of tall grass where they'd made out and… you know… shown one another just how in love they were.)

She was in love. There were no two ways about it, or a loop hole to get out. She'd somehow managed to fall head over heels (yes, clichés and all) in love with Beca Mitchell. And of course as luck would have it, her feelings were in no way mutual.

"Fucking collegiate crushes…" Chloe sighed, finally setting her car in reverse as she backed out of the driveway. "So much got a simple family gathering."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"And uh yea… that's how I ended up at Barden." Beca was pretty sure that at this point she'd broken out in a cold sweat.

Chloe's mother was like the love child of the Spanish Inquisition and a 20 Questions game, except the evil dickhead child that didn't know boundaries, and even if they did, wouldn't abide by them (Chloe was for sure her mother's daughter).

"So you had no say in life after highshool?" Dana pondered, looking like she'd never been more interested in a conversation before in her life.

"Not really…"Beca shrugged. "I mean after this year dad said he'd consider letting me move to LA, but it was never an option I was given initially," she explained.

"That's awful," Dana blurted, her head shaking mournfully from side to side. "Forcing you into something you didn't want."

"It's just the way my parents are though," Beca brushed off. "They've always felt they know what's best for me, just because I never really chose to fit in with the vision they had of me."

"Well Beca honey," Dana suddenly smiled, her hand sliding across the table to rest comfortingly on top of the brunettes. "As long as you're in a relationship with my daughter, and as long as you're under this roof, you never need to feel obliged to conform. As long as you're here you're my daughter too and I think you're a wonderful and well-rounded young lady… from what I know of you so far anyway."

"Uh… thanks." Beca knew she sounded ungrateful in her curt reply, but she just wasn't sure she'd be able to form a longer sentence without quite possibly crying a little.

She'd talked to a lot of people about her parents. She'd talked to therapists, relatives, school friends and even ex's. Through all that though Chloe and (shockingly enough) Dana were the first two people that'd ever made her feel better about it. Ever made her feel like her childhood, and her parents hadn't messed her up completely.

"No need to thank me honey," Dana smiled, pulling her hand away. "You've made my little girl very happy. That's thanks enough."

"No really," Beca insisted, feeling a real need to drive home her point (especially since she was currently feeling something dangerously close to guilt about how happy Dana was that Beca had "stolen Chloe's heart"). "It means a lot to hear someone say that."

"Well good," Dana nodded warmly. "Because you know family do stuff for family… like taking out the trash for example."

"Wha…" Beca's jaw hung a little slack as her eyes darted to the bin in the corner, the lid of which wasn't fully closed as cans of some sort poked out from the interior bag. "Would you like me to take out the trash Dana?" Beca smirked, already knowing the answer.

"Tins and cans in the blue bin, paper and plastic in the green one. Everything else in the brown," Dana instructed triumphantly.

"I feel used," Beca complained, standing begrudgingly from the table and approaching the bin.

(Oddly enough though, carrying the waste bag out the door and scowling at the smug expression on Dana's face was in fact the most accepted Beca had ever felt).

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Beca should have taken gloves. She definitely should have taken gloves. Then again, why would she think of something as obvious as the fact that sifting through trash to separate paper, plastics, cans, and miscellaneous would be such filthy work.

"Beca… what ch'u doing?" The question from Chloe's niece almost caused Beca to jump out of her skin.

"I'm uh… taking out the trash," she replied as she felt her heart pounding with adrenaline. "Don't suppose you want to help?" She questioned teasingly, turning to Grace with a banana skin in her hand.

"Ewww, no way!" The child's head shook so vigorously Beca was sure it'd fall off.

"Thought not," Beca laughed, turning quickly to throw the skin into the brown bin before returning her attention to Grace. "So what brings you here so early?" She questioned the child.

"Granny wanted to see my dress for the wedding," Grace explained. "So mom and dad said we could get ready here so then she could see it and help me do my hair too."

"Oh, sounds like fun," Beca laughed, Graces enthusiasm for the day ahead catching a little (maybe she should bottle some of it for Chloe later? God only knows she'd need it).

"It will be!" Grace's face split into a manic grin.

"Is your dad here?" Beca questioned suddenly, really hoping he wasn't.

"He's in the car still," Grace informed her. "He got a call from work and said he'd be in soon so me and mom decided to go ahead, but then I saw you and wanted to come say hello so I did and then we started talking about trash and then…"

"And then we started talking about your dress and now we're back to here?" Beca cut her off, knowing where the young girls conversation was leading.

"Yea…" Grace agreed. "I'm going to go inside now to try on my dress. See you later Beca."

"See you Grace," the brunette chuckled, watching as the young girl skipped across the lawn and up to the front door of the house.

"Making friends Beca?" Adam's voice called from behind her.

"Mherf!" (That wasn't her response; that was just the noise of shock that preceded her actual sentence). "Something like that I guess…" She shrugged, turning to watch Adam approach her from his car. "She was showing me her dress."

"She's been looking forward to wearing it since she saw it in the shop," Adam smiled, glancing quickly to the door Grace had just disappeared through. "I owe you an apology Beca," he continued before Beca had a chance to butt in.

"Oh?" The brunette genuinely hadn't been expecting one.

"Yea," he sighed, apparently this conversation taking all his power to continue with. "I have all these lines about having Chloe's best interests at heart. All this stuff about looking out for her and knowing her better than anyone else. I think part of it's just… I've just always felt obliged to be there for her. To look after her and to make sure no harm comes to her because she's my sister. What you said to me yesterday though… and watching the way you two acted around one another at the wedding rehearsal… I'm starting to think I don't need to anymore."

"Does this mean you don't hate me anymore?" Beca enquired cautiously.

"Don't get too cocky," Adam grinned. "You're still sleeping with my little sister… I still have my eye on you," he smirked, turning to walk back towards the door.

"Adam wait," Beca called out suddenly (it was now or never). "Your dad. Tell me what happened between Chloe and your dad."

"It's none of…"

"My business, I know," Beca cut him off. "Except it is. It is my business and no one will tell me about it and I just want to help her… I just want to help her."

"Our father's not a bad man Beca," Adam replied mournfully, his smile slipping from his lips as he took a step back towards her. "He's not a bad man and I need you to know that… he just makes bad choices."

"I'm not here to judge him… I'm just here to help your sister."

"The bin bag you just emptied… what was taking up at least half the space?" Adam questioned next, motioning with a limp hand to the black plastic at her side.

"Cans… uh, beer cans." (She was beginning to see where this conversation was going already).

"Yea… all his," Adam sighed. "Chloe and dad were best friends until Chloe was six or seven. Then she dropped out of little league to do ballet and take singing classes. She stopped coming fishing with us a few years later as well. It was tough. Dad worked a lot during the week and fishing was his way to bond with us at weekends… that or talking about sport, which of course Chloe couldn't care less about either. It put a real strain on their relationship."

"I can imagine," Beca agreed.

"Chloe uh… Chloe came out when she was fourteen. As bisexual I mean… and I… I don't know what it was but dad just couldn't take it. Don't get me wrong, he's not homophobic… I mean his cousin Gary's got a husband and he went to the ceremony they had and everything. I think it was just something about it being _his_ child though. That made it different somehow. I still remember when she told him. She'd told me a few days ago, and she'd sat mom down that morning but she waited until right before she went to bed that night to tell dad… don't ask me why, it was just the way it turned out I guess. I was up in my room reading, but I just remember screaming. Like these god awful roars from downstairs. I couldn't make out the words; it was just dads voice filling up the entire house. By the time I came down stairs it was all over…" He trailed off awkwardly, refusing to make eye contact with Beca.

"What was?" Beca could hear her heart ricocheting off her rib cage and taste the bitter dryness in her throat.

"Everything… their relationship. Their father daughter bond, whatever you want to call it," Adam shrugged. "He'd been drinking and he slapped her… straight across the face, and then he hit her again just as hard. She was only fourteen. She was only a kid, and when I came downstairs she was lying on her bedroom floor too shocked to cry."

"He hit her…" Beca sounded out the words, making sure they were real and making sure she'd actually heard them accurately.

"He'd never hit anyone before that, and he never hit anyone after that but yea… yea he hit her," Adam concurred. "It's easy to forget really, when it hasn't happened to you. Life just goes on as normal. Chloe bounced back once the bruise faded… she always bounced back. After a while mom was even able to look him in the eye again. It's still there though, you just get used to it. Every time they're in a room together it's still there and I doubt anything will ever change that. Not if it hasn't already."

"I can't… I never… I never even guessed…" Beca was at a complete loss over what to say.

"That's the idea," Adam half smiled. "You're not meant to guess. You really think Chloe would want people knowing something like that happened to her? Like I said, she bounced back. Chloe can't stay sad; it's against her nature so she just moves on. She stays positive and optimistic and to hell with the rest of it."

"It just happened and you all moved on?" Beca pondered; her expression blank as her brain tried to process.

"It happened and yea, eventually we did. We did because Chloe did as best she could and we owed it to her to try as well. I know it makes no sense to you… and it wouldn't cos you weren't there. You didn't grow up in this house, but yea, that's just what happened."

"Fuck…" Beca stated (the only word in her extensive vocabulary fitting her emotions right now). "That's fucked up."

"Yea… unfortunately every family is if you peel back enough layers."

Neither of them had anything left to say after that. Adam left first, turning on his heel and walking inside without so much as a glance over his shoulder as Beca got back to the task at hand and finished separating the trash, her mind spinning the entire time.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Okay, now are we all ready to go?" Dana called, running as quickly as her heels would allow her into the kitchen, still attaching an earring.

"We've been ready for half an hour mom… it's you we're all waiting on," Adam reminded her yet again.

"Okay, well I'm done now so let's go," She demanded, her voice becoming military as she lined them to march to the cars. "Beca honey, are you coming?" She added, noticing that the brunette was the only one of her "soldiers" that hadn't budged.

"Yea…" Beca replied absently, staring down at the blank text on her phone like she had been for the past five minutes. "I just need to send someone a text first."

"Well hurry… we'll wait on you in the car," Dana sighed, rushing out the door behind Grace.

_I've thought about it… _

The beep to signal the text being sent had hardly chimed when the reply came through.

_I presume this is in relation to the conversation we had last night?_

_Yea…_

_And?_

Beca hesitated. Informing Aubrey of her intent was more or less setting everything in stone to happen, because once a Posen knew there was no turning back.

_And… the risk's worth taking_


	14. Chapter 14

**I was going to make this chapter really long. Then I thought "naw, I'll drag it out some". You're welcome.**

_**BonesFABERRY: Hey, I just started reading this fic and let me take off my hat and applaud you because is so awesome! Like really super Harry Potter's level of awesome...And I love everything about it and the way you write, and if it wasn't creepy I'd get down on one knee and ask you to marry me...Anyways, I really can't wait for the next chapter! :)**_

_**"Like really super Harry Potter level of awesome" *dies*. If you asked me to marry you I'd probably say yes.**_

**Also Kyle, just so you know dude, I didn't read all of that because well... you know there's better ways to get your story seen, right? Like create an account and go crazy. (Though I'm honoured you wanted to show me?)**

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The wedding was… well, it was a wedding. There were tears (not on Beca's part obviously) there was laughter (though again, Beca remained excluded from the inside jokes) and of course, there was a whole lot of love in the air (every second of which was captured on camera by a pompous photographer that was probably charging ten times too much).

Beca had to admit though, in spite of all that was said about Rachel (or Raquel, depending on who she was talking to), the girl looked good, although her dress was too fluffy, and her tan a little too dark for Beca's liking.

It wasn't the bride that caught her eye though, which was quite something seeing as it was obvious Rachel/Raquel had done everything in her power to ensure her bridesmaids didn't outshine her (Like brown dresses… really?!). She'd failed though. She'd failed miserably.

At least in Beca's opinion she had anyway.

Chloe looked like… perfection. Yea, that's the word Beca thought fit her best. Perfection. It wasn't the dress (for sure) and it wasn't that her hair or makeup was done exceptionally either (her hair was just curled and gripped to the side for all those with an interest in fashion and the likes).

Perhaps it was merely the fact that in the entire time Beca had known Chloe this was the first time she'd had an opportunity to stare for so long without being caught. It was the first time she'd had a chance to soak it all in.

How long her eyelashes were and just how mesmerizingly blue her eyes were beneath them. The way her hair bounced when she walked down the aisle and the façade of angelic innocence that a smile lent her. When the congregation laughed politely at a bad joke it was Chloe's tolerate giggle that floated into Beca's ear, and when a genuine burst of laughter erupted through the pews it was again Chloe's broader, stifled chuckle that caught her attention.

She was just without a notable flaw, and by the time the happy couple danced out of the chapel doors to a thunder of applause Beca was surer than ever that the red head was exactly what she wanted.

(It was just saying it that'd be the problem).

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It's easy to be happy at a wedding. The joy's kind of just absorbed by each pore of your body. Even on the worst day, it was pretty damn difficult to feel mad, or sad, or any negative emotion for that matter.

That's why for the hour and a half they spent in the chapel (because yea, it was one of those super long traditional weddings) Chloe didn't think twice about her problems (except maybe the fact that oh sweet divine she was wearing a brown dress in public). She just let herself be happy, because to hell with it. Unfortunately she knew only too well how long it'd last.

She was wrong.

It actually lasted fifteen seconds longer than she though it would (score!). It wasn't until she was trailing after Rachel out the doors of the chapel that the little switch inside her head was flicked back on again.

All it took was a glance. Just one quick glance into Beca's steely blue eyes and a casual return of the smile Beca gave her and that was Chloe right back to square one again with her emotions. It was like an Olympic gymnast had begun practice in the pit of her stomach all over again.

(Fuck it.)

She knew something had to be done. She knew she couldn't go on like this. The urge to pin Beca to a wall and kiss her until they both went brain dead became more and more overpowering by the second, and in her heart of hearts Chloe knew it wasn't healthy. She knew she couldn't let herself fall any deeper for someone that wasn't willing to catch her.

She needed to end it (whatever "it" was) and the more she thought about it, the more she realized she needed to do it sooner rather than later.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Beca had by default presumed that sitting with Chloe's family would be awkward (especially with Chloe at the brides table). It wasn't though. Shockingly enough she actually caught herself having fun a few times.

She was cushioned between Daniel and Jim (that was Chloe's dads name! Jim. God it wasn't even a difficult name to remember), and after the first five minutes of initial light hearted bitching about family members they hadn't seen in god only knows how long, Beca actually found herself sliding comfortably into conversation.

It was just made so easy. It was easy to talk to Dana about her life, and what she liked and disliked. It was easy to tease Daniel and Adam and get teased right back. It was easy to act as Grace's cool "aunt" and promise to sneak her into clubs when she was older (much to Adams dismay). She even found it easy to talk to Alice about just how unique the family was that they'd stumbled into.

It was the first time she'd felt like this ever. The first time she felt like she belonged. First time she'd felt accepted. The first time she'd actually felt like she was part of a family (and may her vocal cords be ripped out by wolves if anyone ever found out she thought something so cheesy).

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The worst part is Chloe can't help but watch Beca (the top table is a prime location for some creeping and all).

Actually no, that's not the worst part. The worst part is that when she's watching Beca she can't help but notice just how amazing an addition the DJ would be to her family. Just how much everyone loves her already, and just how much she genuinely seems to get along with them.

There were actually a few times Chloe had to stop and remind herself that for Beca it was just all an act, and that each time she laughed at one of her mother's jokes, or threw an insult at Adam or Daniel, or chanced a glance and a smile up in Chloe's direction between conversations, it was just all a play that'd end the second they returned to Barden (I mean Jesus, was she Oscar nominated in a past life or something?).

Yea, that's what sucked the most for Chloe. The fact that now her family would probably end up hurt as well.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After dinner there was dancing. Like lots of dancing. It was almost like being back at Bellas rehearsals (aside from the distinct lack of shrill screeching and occasional episodes of choking down vomit that is).

Oh, and the fact that Beca got to have Chloe's arms wrapped around waist as their foreheads rested together and they swayed on the spot. Yea, that was a little different too.

Beca was sure she'd self-combust at the sensation. The material in her dress was really rather light, and every touch of Chloe's fingers set her nerve endings on fire. This wasn't helped at all by the way Chloe's soft, gentle breaths brushed against her cheek as they moved, tickling her down the side of her neck.

It also wasn't helped by the uh… "sensation" in her lady parts, but she was ignoring that. She was ignoring that because they were in public. They were in public and she was pretty sure it was deemed unacceptable to push Chloe to the ground in the middle of the floor and straddle her (though she was fairly sure she was going to now have a dream to that effect at some point).

Yup, right now they were dancing, and Beca wanted in equal parts for the song to go on forever and for it to end, so they could go back to Chloe's and Beca could finally tell her how she feels.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The dancing would be the death of her, it really would. All Chloe could think was how close she was. How if she were only to lean in another fraction of an inch she could have their lips touching. Just a few more centimetres and they'd be kissing for real, like properly, lip to lip.

No more lingering hand holds or drawn out hugs. Now more chanced glances or almost kisses on the side of the mouth. A real one. A real kiss that would make way for a tidal wave of love and emotion.

Oh, except for one thing that is. One tiny detail that Chloe found she had an awful habit of ignoring.

Beca wasn't into her in that way.

At all (apparently).

And it didn't matter how into her Chloe was because they were "just friends" and Beca would always be there for her "as a friend but that's it".

Yea, fun stuff.

So yea, right now they were dancing, and Chloe both wanted the song to go on forever so she could remain in her ignorantly blissful bubble, and for it to end, so they could go home and Chloe could finally save the little dignity she had left and reiterate to Beca that they were still sticking to the original plan, and everything would go back to normal when they returned to Barden.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Beca had thought they'd never leave. They did though. Three hours after the dancing had first begun and they were all finally traipsing through Chloe's front door again.

Dana had mentioned something about a night cap, but Chloe had turned it down instantly, so Beca'd taken the same stance. That and she knew more alcohol would only make her chicken out (or make her overconfident and slurry all at once).

In fact, she could already feel herself begin to chicken out as they made the slow migration through the hallway towards the stairs. It was now. She needed to do it now, or so help her god she probably never would.

"Chloe… can we talk?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The last thing Chloe needed was a night cap. She'd almost shouted at her mother for even suggesting it (though that would be a little unreasonable seeing as her mother had no idea why Chloe was so on edge).

She needed to get out of that kitchen, with Beca. She needed them to talk as soon as possible because she was sure if she waited any longer she'd only get wrapped up in something else Beca done that she found cute.

She was going to wait until they were in the safety of her room. A place where she felt calm, a place where she felt she could be herself. She didn't get the chance though.

"Chloe… can we talk?"

What if Beca noticed the signs? What if she'd copped on that Chloe had a crush and wanted to make her (platonic) intentions clear before something awkward happened? No. That wasn't going to happen. No way.

"Yea, but I wanna go first."


	15. Chapter 15

**So usually (not intentionally, just coincidentally) I update this on a Saturday, and by default now I feel bad for it being a Sunday (good job guys, you guilted me without even trying) so allow me to explain: I woke up on Saturday at half nine, went to the library at 10, went straight to work from the library at 4, went straight to a party from work at 10 and then stayed at my best friend's house... so ya see? Anyway, none of you asked for that, but there ya go anyway.**

**Also, this chapter was re-written start to finish 4 times. It took me to a dark place in terms of will power.**

_**daniuliaana: NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! please oh help me god chloe CANNOT MUST NOT talk first omg don't you break my heart like that! im dead**_

_**Could I be done for manslaughter?**_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Oh right… well yea, go ahead then?" Beca hadn't exactly been expecting Chloe to have much to say, but whatever, she could roll with it.

"Right… well…" (Shit, how was she actually supposed to say this?). "It's about how things will be once we get back to Barden."

"Oh right… well yea, that's actually what I want to talk about as well… I suppose." Beca let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, glad that they appeared to be one the one wave length.

Chloe had known it. She'd known Beca had copped on to how much of a crush Chloe had on her. It made her insides squirm with embarrassment to even contemplate the notion that Beca had known all along how much Chloe liked her, but played along with the charade anyway out of pity. She needed to put that right. She needed to put it right and save what little face she had left.

"Upstairs!" The words stumbled from Chloe's lips before she'd had time to process. "Uh… can we talk upstairs, like in private," she elaborated with a (uncharacteristically) shy smile.

"As the lady commands," Beca nodded, smiling as Chloe turned and led the way to the (all too familiar) brightness of Chloe's not so humble room. "Go on then?" Beca prompted, standing awkwardly at the side of Chloe's bed as Chloe stood across from her, leaning against the shut door.

"Well I just figured it was worth saying… with all the craziness that's gone on the last few days… nothing's changed… once we go back to Barden that is." Chloe enunciated each word carefully, making sure what she was saying sank in. "We're going back to being friends again… just… just yea… I thought I'd say that in case," she nodded, ignoring the feeling of her heart crashing down to her stomach.

"Friends…" Beca's mind found it impossible to get around and process the word. "Friends…" She was nodding her head, though more so in a sheer disbelief of what was being said to her than anything.

"Yea friends…" Chloe nodded, forcing herself to smile and look perky. "Just so we're cool," she added.

"No wait… are we though?" Beca's brain finally caught up (and began to fight back).

"Uh…" (How was she supposed to answer this one?)

"Like are we cool Chloe?" Beca pushed. "Because…" (Oh sweet Jesus it was now or never). "Because I got the feeling that there was something… uh… something more… uh… here?" (smooth as ever, like really, top job).

"What?" Chloe questioned dumbfounded.

"Well I just… I kind of had like… an idea… that like… um…" (help, help, help!)

"Beca!" Chloe cut in (usually the rambling was cute, but it was like watching The Kings Speech or something).

"I really like you!" Saying it was like purging, and Beca could instantly feel her entire world lighten. "I really like you and I hope you really like me too… like romantically." (Okay, adding that last part was really lame… now purging had turned to embarrassment).

"No you don't…" Chloe knew it was a dumb response, but nothing else made sense, it had to be a joke.

"Excuse me?" Apparently Beca considered it a dumb response too.

"No you don't…" (This conversation was getting places).

"Yes I do?" (What the fuck?).

"I heard you… at the rehearsal dinner… on the phone… no you don't?" Seriously, Chloe was not dropping this one (even if she did want what Beca said to be true).

"You heard me talking to Aubrey?" Beca queried, becoming more and more confused by the second.

"That was Aubrey?!" Chloe all but shouted.

"Well yea… I…" Beca was floundering for something (anything) to say that would reinstate order to this conversation.

"You were talking to my best friend about how you only saw me as a friend?" Chloe questioned, obviously hurt by the thought.

"What the… what the hell conversation did you hear?!" Beca's jaw dropped (seriously, was she being punk'd?). "I confessed my love for you in that conversation!"

"Love?" Chloe entire world took a time out when she heard the word (talk about the conversation taking a positive turn around).

"Liking…" Beca backtracked, her eyes going wide in her head. "I confessed my uh… my great liking for you!"

"You said love!" Chloe's finger pointed accusingly at Beca. "You… love! You said love!" She took a step closer, still waving her finger like a manic.

"You're going to poke my eye out," Beca replied, leaning her head back to avoid the rogue finger. "You… my eye! You're going to poke it out!" She mimicked Chloe's tone, all the time trying to simultaneously fight off a smile.

"I don't care!" Chloe laughed, literally unable to contain her excitement. "You love me… this is amazing."

"Wait… this from the girl that two minutes ago was saying she only saw me as a friend?" Beca couldn't help but ask, feeling right now like she was trying to hold a conversation with a schizophrenic.

"I uh… I was employing a tactic of self-preservation," Chloe explained meekly, her enthusiasm suddenly waning.

"And just think how much easier it'd have been if you were honest?" Beca smirked, a giddy feeling rising in her chest, closer and closer to the surface each second.

"And just told you that I think I love you too?" Chloe smiled, the sides of her mouth crinkling when she watched the way Beca's eyes lit up (though stoic as ever, she tried not to let it show on her face).

"Yea, something like that," Beca nodded, doing her upmost to play it cool.

"Well then… one hundred per cent honesty from now on, cool?" Chloe smiled, taking a step closer with that look in her eye.

"Cool…" (though it sounded more like "ool" because suddenly Beca's throat was very dry).

"Starting with the fact that I've had a crush on you since I first saw you," Chloe began. "And taking you here was my fantasied way of getting you to like me back…" she admitted somewhat timidly.

"Well it worked… so we're cool," Beca laughed.

"Good… I just figured I'd let you know anyway, now that we're being honest," she elaborated, taking the final step to close the gap between them.

Beca's hands went on instinct to Chloe's hips, and she felt herself pushed gently back onto the mattress as Chloe stepped in between her legs, the red heads own hands resting on Beca's shoulders. Each second their faces moved millimetres closer, their breaths tickling one another's lips as they savoured each moment.

"Wait!" Beca would look back on this moment, and that exact word, twenty years from now, and probably still kick herself. "If we're being honest there's something I want to say," she blurted out, her breath still hot against Chloe's cheek.

"This so isn't what I had in mind for honesty," Chloe groaned, pulling her face back so she could actually look the brunette in the eye without going cross eyed in the process. "Though by all means, continue."

"I uh… I know about your dad," Beca confessed meekly.

"Excuse me?" The harsh hollowness in Chloe's tone had not been something the DJ was expecting.

"I mean I uh… I found out, like I kind of pieced it together and um…" Chloe's voice instantly set all panic stations in Beca's brain to overload.

"You know about… everything?" Chloe suddenly felt weak, and moved away from between Beca's legs to sit next to her on the bed instead.

"I… yea… I guess I do," Beca nodded, turning to face the brunette (why did she suddenly feel like she'd messed something up… like big time?).

"Okay…" Chloe nodded, though she didn't look like she'd processed the information yet at all.

"Do you wanna… you wanna uh… talk about it?" Beca mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, praying for an epiphany as to what to do next.

"No," Chloe answered immediately, a tight lipped smile on her face. "I'm actually pretty tired," she added then, standing abruptly.

"Oh…" Beca didn't know what else to say as she watched the red head walk away from her.

"Yea, I'm gonna go to bed I think…" Chloe clarified, pulling a pair of pyjamas out of the case she'd packed the night before and all but running into the bathroom.

"Yup…" Beca muttered to herself. "I fucked up."

She could hear Chloe moving around in the bathroom, but didn't say anything else. It was one of Beca's greatest flaws (and what she perceived to be her greatest defence mechanism), she never, ever, ever spoke to someone when she knew they were mad at her.

Like ever.

Instead she got ready for bed as quickly as humanly possible, and was feigning sleep by the time Chloe came back into the room.

She probably shouldn't have. In fact no, she definitely shouldn't have, but she did. She lay there feigning sleep as the red head lay down next to her (and by next to her she meant as far away as the small double bed would allow).

This argument could wait another day.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Turns out the argument couldn't wait after all.

She wasn't surprised to find and empty bed (Chloe was diabolical at packing, and had needed to round up a few stray socks and t-shirts). She was however a little more disheartened to find a Chloe free house.

"Oh honey," Dana cooed, when Beca finally stumbled into the kitchen wondering aloud where the red head had gone. "She had to leave. Some kind of emergency and she didn't want to wake you? She left this though," the older woman explained, passing a sealed envelope across the table for Beca to grab.

Beca was so deject at being handed the envelope she took a sneaky glance at the floor around her just to be sure her heart hadn't fallen out of her ass completely. She thanked Dana none the less though (manners above everything else and all that), before sulking out of the room.

The bottom step of the stairs was actually as far as she made it. She just kind of flopped down and stared for a while at the envelope, wondering if there was a way to make this not be happening (she soon realized here wasn't).

Eventually she tore the seal (let's face it, prolonging it's good for no one).

Beca,

I'm keeping this short (I know how short your attention span can be).

First off, I don't hate you. Let's just be clear on that one. I just woke up this morning and realized that I don't want to talk to you about what you know. Then I realized that I don't like the fact that you know what you know, like at all. I feel betrayed, and I feel like you double crossed me, and most importantly I feel like you're going to treat me differently now. Like I'm more fragile or something? Anyway, I just had an epiphany that you knowing what you know scared me and I know just leaving like this is childish, but I've got a lot of supressed feelings towards the issue, and the last thing I need is them to be dragged out. Sorry.

I roped Adam into leaving you home by the way, him, Alice and Grace are leaving today so I guess I'll see you at Bella's practice.

Chloe.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Beca was still shell shocked when they stopped an hour outside Tampa. The only thing she'd actually managed to figure out was that she'd just been dumped, before they'd even started dating (new record, woo!).

Oh, well she'd also figured out she needed to do something… she just wasn't sure what yet.

"You gonna tell me what really happened?" Adam questioned, watching Beca with one eye in the rear view mirror as the other stayed trained on his wife and daughter as they went to the ladies room.

Beca knew there was no point in lying to him (and even if there had been, she was fairly certain she was too miserable to lie to anyone right now).

"I messed it up," she confessed dejectedly. "I finally had something really good going, and I messed it up completely with her."

"I see." Was all Adam said at first his eyes still trained ahead as people around them filled their cars with gas.

"I know that's not all you have to say," Beca sighed. "And as much as I know I'm going to hate all the shit you're about to throw my way I know I deserve it for fucking things up the way I did… so go on, tell me how shit a human being I am and how little I deserve Chloe's affection..." (That's right Beca, release your anger on her older brother, that's a sure fire way to win her back over).

"Everything you said is completely accurate," Adam nodded. "Except you forgot to add that I'll kick your scrawny ass if you don't apologise for whatever it is you done and get her back."

"'Scuse me?" Beca had to do a mental double take to make sure what she'd just heard was accurate.

"I swear to god Beca I'll kick your ass," Adam repeated. "I've never seen her happier, so fix whatever I is you done wrong because if your wedding's not the next one I get invited to, I'll kick your ass, understand?"

"Yea, yea I do."


	16. Chapter 16

**So I have exams from the 5th until the 13th. So if I don't update next week it's because I've a maths paper, two Irish paper, a biology paper, a history paper, a French paper and a business paper to study for. (trust me, I'd rather be doing this). Also, I know I could try and update before they start... but I've two English papers, another maths paper and a geography paper to study for as well... so it probably won't happen (sorry).**

_**FHC: Askabaixioaoskzicjabhavajxkjsj... why?! Chloe running away like that... Beca fully wasted... gosh this is not... This is not OK...T_T**_

_**The face at the end of this really killed me. I don't even know why, but I laughed fro a good five minutes at it (it's pretty late here).**_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Barden seemed forever away after that.

You'd think that'd be a good thing as well. It'd give Beca time to mull over her options or something, maybe even come up with a plan. Oh boy you'd have thought wrong though.

If anything, the most productive thought Beca had on the remainder of her journey was "oh fuck, I should really be planning something" (which really does just sum up her entire situation).

Not that that mattered much. Not that she'd have been given a change to put into action any plans anyway.

The door to her dorm room was barely closed (like really, it didn't even get time to properly click shut) before it was thrown open again with violent force that even made Kimmy Jin look up from her laptop, which her eyes had probably been glued for the entire five days.

"Kimmy Jin, five minutes please?" Beca's roommate didn't even consider arguing with the figure standing in the doorway (it was actually somewhat akin to a rampant axe murderer giving the Asian a free pass to life before brutally murdering Beca).

"You uh… you want me to go too?" Beca mumbled hopefully (very hopefully actually), watching as Kimmy scurried from the room, not even throwing a menacing glare (probably because anger was wasted on the dead).

"Sit." Was the only word Aubrey said as she snapped the door shut and took an authoritative step into the room. "Sit," she repeated when Beca stayed rooted to the spot in fear.

"Aubrey what…" Beca knew her sentence was never going to be finished, but she figured it was worth a try.

"I had a DMC with Chloe last night…" Aubrey began, already pacing up and down the narrow floor space between the two beds in the room.

"A DMC?" She knew it was a dumb idea to ask questions, but Beca really had no clue what the abbreviation meant, and she was almost certain it was a vital element of the conversation.

"Jesus Christ Beca, a DMC! It's a deep meaningful conversation!" Aubrey snapped, as Beca merely nodded her understanding (it was just a hunch, but Beca was more or less 110% certain that interrupting again would cost her life). "And she told me that you knew about her dad. You told her you knew about her father and what happened. I mean… I just… do you want me to hate you? Is that what this is really about?" The blonde cried, her words morphing to one shrill noise of frustration.

"I…" Beca opened and closed her mouth like a fish, but no more words came out.

"I what Beca?" Aubrey genuinely seemed like she wanted an answer, and for a split second Beca's mind went into meltdown until the blonde decided to continue her shit storm of hate. "I mean I can't believe you. I genuinely can't believe that you'd go ahead and confess your feelings for her and then hurt her like that. Like really, are you brain dead or something?"

"She wanted… she wanted us to be honest with each other…" Beca defended weakly, not daring to make eye contact.

"SO TELL HER YOU SMOKED WEED IN HIGHSCHOOL OR SOMETHING!" Aubrey lost her shit altogether. "Don't fucking tell her you went snooping in her past and found out her deepest and darkest secret when she asked you specifically not to do that."

"I wasn't… I wasn't thinking," Beca mumbled, knotting her fingers together so violently she was sure one would snap.

"No fucking shit Sherlock," Aubrey dead panned. "I figured that one out for myself."

"It's not like… I didn't mean to… I just…" Beca stumbled, praying for the floor to swallow her whole.

"I know… I know it was a mistake, I know." Aubrey groaned, covering her face in her hands for a second before running her fingers through her hair and sitting right on the edge of Kimmy Jins bed, staring intently at Beca. "That's why contrary to what my head is screaming at me, I believe you deserve a second chance," she sighed, each syllable seeming to cause her physical pain.

"You do?" Beca tried not to sound too shocked (though she failed).

"Don't test me on the matter," Aubrey warned. "I changed my mind eight times on the way over here already."

"Oh…" Beca nodded, waiting for a moment for Aubrey to cut in with more ranting before she continued. "I don't know what to do…" she confessed awkwardly.

"And you want me to be your guiding star or some shit?" Aubrey was not amused by Beca's confession.

"Well I…" Beca could unfortunately see where the blonde was coming from with her refusal to help.

"You have until Bellas practice tomorrow to come up with something. I'm not having it disrupted by your lovers tiff," Aubrey explained, standing again from the bed. "So think fast," she demanded, striding towards the door.

"Aubrey… hold on a sec," Beca called, stopping the other woman before she had a chance to make her grand and dramatic exit (that she'd probably had planned since the offset). "You owe me a Bellas rehearsal," she reminded the blonde.

"You really think I'll give it to you now?" Aubrey scoffed, turning to quirk her eyebrow at the DJ.

"I need it…" Beca tried to explain (not that explanations were her strong suit). "I might have an idea."

"I am not wasting an entire rehearsal on this Mitchell," Aubrey snapped, seeming angrier at the notion of time wasting than she had at the idea of Beca screwing over her best friend.

"Not an entire practice!" Beca insisted quickly. "Just ask the girls to come early to practice something… all I'll need is the last five minutes to show Chloe… please?"

Aubrey looked reluctant. In fact Aubrey looked to be waging an internal war with herself: a battle between her desire to make her best friend happy again and her desire to maintain her death grip control on her Bellas.

"Fine." It took a minute, but apparently even with Aubrey friendship tended to win out. "Half an hour before the start of practice, and ten minutes at the end." Was all she said before storming from the room (probably engrossed in a bubble of self-loathing at the fact she'd caved to none other than Beca Mitchell).

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The half hour pre-Bellas session had gone to plan and everyone knew their "part". Which was just as well really, because Beca was fairly sure the awkwardness of the actually Bellas practice would eat her alive and kill her, meaning her friends would have to do what she'd asked without any help from her.

Chloe wasn't talking to her at all. Actually, scratch that, the red head wasn't even looking at her. She even skipped her when she was helping people with their choreography.

In a weird way Beca was actually kind of glad she'd had to explain to her fellow Bellas that her and Chloe had had a falling out (obviously avoiding the actual cause of the fall out), because otherwise she'd have put money on Fat Amy making at least once "aca-awkward" reference to their behaviour.

It's not like her and Chloe hung off one another usually. They were just never this… cold. Yea, that's exactly the word Beca would use. Cold.

In fact it was so cold there was actually fifteen minutes until practice ended when Aubrey suddenly called for the girls to stop what they're doing (which was trying to master a sidestep crossover for all those interested in the boring parts of choreography).

"Okay I need… I need everyone to circle around me!" She demanded; the pressure the tension in the room was causing her beginning to show in her tight smile. "Uh Beca… Beca's going to be closing the practice today," she explained before stepping aside for the brunette to take her place.

The group feigned surprise (it was part of the routine they'd been told to follow), but it was only Chloe that looked genuinely confused as Beca cleared her throat to speak.

"As uh… as many, if not all, of you know… I'm a real dick head sometimes," Beca began awkwardly, trying to ignore the slow ripple of head nods in the crowd around her. "Though recently I um… I fucked up more than usual… so uh… Cynthia Rose if you'd get Chloe one of those seats at the back and uh… everyone take their places?"

Chloe was extremely hesitant, but when Cynthia all but pushed her back into the fold out chair she had no option but to comply. Aubrey stood beside her (having refused to become personally involved in the shenanigans), and Beca took a moment to make sure everyone was in their places before she turned back to face the red head.

Jessica began to hum the first chords of "Little Lion Man", with Cynthia and Amy coming in after her on different keys. Soon Lily too washed in, dropping a soft drum beat.

Weep for yourself, my man,  
You'll never be what is in your heart  
Weep Little Lion Man,  
You're not as brave as you were at the start

Beca looked straight at Chloe when she sang the softened melody, her eyes strong and determine for the red head to listen to every syllable and understand just how sorry she was.

Rate yourself and rake yourself,  
Take all the courage you have left  
Wasted on fixing all the problems  
That you made in your own head

As the beat picked up just a little Beca even dared to take a step closer, her eyes still glued firmly on Chloe as her voice ceased to waver and

But it was not your fault but mine  
And it was your heart on the line  
I really fucked it up this time  
Didn't I, my dear?  
Didn't I, my...

As Beca sung the last few lines the melody began to change, Ashley, Stacie and Denise coming in with a much slower tune, that Chloe couldn't quite make out until the beat to Little Lion Man faded out completely and Beca picked up the new verse.

And high up above or down below  
When you're too in love to let it go  
But if you never try you'll never know  
Just what you're worth

Beca took another step closer now, the entire group behind her taking up the slow harmonic backing music that seemed to fill the rehearsal space to the brim with sound.

Lights will guide you home  
And ignite your bones  
And I will try to fix you

She was right beside Chloe now (Aubrey having taken a step back quite a while ago). The music tapered out again, the Bellas apparently being done with their part as they, along with Aubrey, began to retreat towards the door silently.

I really fucked it up this time  
Didn't I, my dear?  
Didn't I…?

She didn't even really sing the last part. It was more of a question. Maybe even a statement.

"Yea…" Chloe nodded. "You did fuck up," she clarified, though when she stood from her seat she didn't immediately walk away (something Beca took as being a good thing).

"Can we talk?" Beca requested, feeling brave (in a very passive sense mind you).

"After that performance?" Chloe half smiled. "Yea, I think I've got five minutes for you."


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm back! My exams are over, so the updating shall begin. So glad you guys didn't break down or anything like that, and I promise to make up for my absence to thank you guys for being so patient.**

**Also, this is the second last chapter (meaning the next one's the last) that means I have a question for you guys: Should I do an epilogue? I'm not even sure what it'd consist of yet, and it'd be fairly short (well, maybe) but just putting the question out there? Is less really more, or do you guys want an extra chapter at the end?**

**_BubblineFTW: This is so cute I'm going to die. And the fact that you inserted Mumford and sons and Coldplay is ... what's the word, "aca-mazing"?_**

**_I couldn't decide which song, so I went for both._**

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Spill!" It was the closest thing to an in key harmony the Bellas had given Aubrey all year (apparently gossip was what they'd needed to motivate them all along).

"Spill what?" Aubrey queried; her features cool and impartial as always.

"Nuh uh," Cynthia butted in before anyone else got the chance to strike up argument. "My gaydar just had an epileptic fit in there. Something's up," she stated, feeling no need to sugar coat her comment as there was a universal nodding of heads around her.

"I've no idea what you're talking about," Aubrey persisted, diverting eye contact only for the briefest of seconds to compose herself.

"Well then, we'll hazard a guess…" Fat Amy threatened, a coy grin slowly seeping across her face.

"It would be to no avail," Aubrey half pleaded (not that Aubrey Posen would ever plead). "I'm as in the dark as you all are."

"True as that may be, though we all know it's not," Fat Amy continued, still smiling like that cat that got the cream. "If I were to throw out the word lesbians and love into conversation… would it ring any bells perhaps?"

"I don't… I've no idea what…" Aubrey sighed, feeling seven pairs of eyes bore into her soul.

"Spill," Jessica pushed.

"You know you want to…" Cynthia added.

"I can read minds anyway," Lilly whispered, her stare becoming wider, causing Aubrey to recoil ever so slightly.

"She's my best friend," Aubrey cracked a little (god dammit, what was wrong with her?!). "I'm not just going to broadcast my best friend's dirty laundry."

"I do it all the time!" Fat Amy brushed off easily. "You know my best friend Janet once dated two guys at the same time… boom! Broadcasting dirty laundry. C'mon, try it."

"I will not!" Aubrey snapped, finally beginning to lose her cool. "And that really wasn't a cool move Amy, you shouldn't do that," she added; only half shocked.

"Needs must and all that," Amy shrugged off easily.

"Two guys at once?" All of a sudden Stacie seemed interested. "That's nothing... This one time I had three guys going at once and managed to make it last like almost two months."

"Yea, but the catch is, they knew about one another," Fat Amy nodded knowingly, her face lighting up at Stacie's instantaneously stunned expression.

"How…" The brunette breathed out in sincere admiration for this unknown woman.

"It's a pretty long story, but she had it working pretty well for her at one point," Amy began. "Basically…"

"Guys, guys!" Cynthia cut in, staring dumbfounded at her two friends. "The hell?"

"Oh come on," Stacie scoffed. "Like you don't want to know this story!"

"For another day maybe?" The other woman prompted. "Right now we've got juicer gossip on our hands," she reminded the group, pointing to Aubrey who'd begun edging away.

"Fair point," Fat Amy agreed, turning back to Aubrey.

"Whatever," Stacie rolled her eyes. "Back to Beca, Chloe and their problems."

"I was actually enjoying Amy's story…" Aubrey tried, gesturing clumsily at Amy as she stepped gingerly away.

"And we're more interested in you…" Amy retorted. "Now…" She tried to finish, being stopped mid-sentence however by a commotion behind them.

"You know what Beca? Screw you!" Chloe screamed, storming from the building. "Just fucking screw you!" She half screamed half growled, turning to face the brunette that was rushing out after her, continuing her exit walking backwards now.

"Oh that's rich. That's real fucking rich coming from you," Beca scoffed, arms flailing as she motioned wildly at the red head. "Real rich seeing as that's just what you wanted to do to me before you got all high and mighty," she sneered, keeping her pace steady as the two cut through the group of Bellas that parted easily for them.

"Oh like I'd lay a finger on you, hobbit!" Chloe snapped, turning again so she was facing forward.

"Like I'd let you anyway!" Beca retorted, just as much malice evident in her voice as both stormed away, their insults still audible until they walked through the archway that led to dorms.

"Fuck…" Aubrey whispered, running her pristinely manicured nails through her hair.

"What just happened?" Stacie questioned; her jaw hanging slack.

"I don't know…" Aubrey groaned, still looking in the direction the two had gone. "This time I really don't fucking know."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Can we talk?"

"After that performance? Yea, I think I've got five minutes for you."

"Well… I guess I… I'm sorry?" Beca tried, cringing at the lameness of her words even before the sound travelled back to her ears.

"You did all that…" Chloe scoffed, motioning to where the Bellas had stood moments ago performing. "To tell me you were sorry? You know texting can do that too, right?" She knew she was being cold, but to be honest Chloe was pretty pissed right now, so she didn't really care.

"No… I just wanted you to know that I am sorry for how much of a dick I was," Beca elaborated, already getting a distinct sinking feeling that this conversation was going to shit.

"I know you know you were a dick Beca…"Chloe sighed, softening somewhat at the fear she saw in the younger woman's eyes. "And I know you know you messed up… I need to know why though?"

"Why what?" Beca felt dumb asking, but also felt kind of obliged to, if for nothing else then to stall a little.

"Why you went to so much trouble to find everything out when I specifically told you not to," Chloe expanded. "I just…" she sighed. "I just want to know what possessed you to do that… cos to be honest, that's what's pissing me off the most."

"You're such an open person Chloe," Beca began awkwardly, hoping that she'd have another word vomit incident that'd finish this sentence for her because she sure as hell didn't know where it was going. "But the entire time we were in Tampa it was like… you basically tuned into me…"

"Hey now," Chloe half laughed at the insinuation.

"Okay, well you weren't quite that bad maybe," Beca agreed, smiling softly. "But still, it freaked me out. I just wanted to know why," she shrugged. "That really is it… I just wanted to know, and I guess I never gave much consideration to the consequences."

"No, I never had you down as the kind of person to think things through in all fairness," Chloe concurred, nodding in agreement to what Beca had just said. "I still wish you didn't know though…" She added after a moment.

"I know you do," Beca rolled her shoulders uncomfortably, taking a step towards the red head. "I can pretend I don't though?"

"No you can't," Chloe exhaled thoughtfully. "See the thing between me and my dad…"

"What thing?" Beca butt in, grinning triumphantly.

"Beca," Chloe half warned, rolling her eyes at the brunette's antics. "The thing that went on with my dad…" she tried again.

"What thing," Beca once again cut in, still finding herself hilarious.

"Beca!" Chloe snapped this time, her bemused expression telling the DJ to heed her tone.

"Sorry…" The brunette mumbled, looking almost bashful now.

"Anyway the thing between my dad and me… It's something I've never talked about, but I want to… with you," she finally finished.

"With me?" Beca seemed dumbfounded by the statement (actually no, correction, she was dumbfounded by the statement).

"Yea, you," Chloe laughed. "Though not here…" she added, looking around the rehearsal space, as if suddenly realizing where they were.

"Well pick a place then," Beca prompted, already looking like she was trying to curb her enthusiasm at being forgiven.

"My dorm," Chloe decided after a moment's thought. "We can go there now," she added, nodding in agreement to her own plan.

"We cannot," Beca snorted, instantly shooting the idea down.

"It's okay, Aubrey'll leave if we ask her to," Chloe reassured the brunette.

"That's the least of our worries," Beca shook her head. "You realize there's a mob of eight gossip hungry girls out there that're going to ambush us the second we walk through them doors?" She reminded the red head.

"Hm…" Chloe pondered Beca's statement for a second, her brain working overtime to get around the problem. "Not if we don't give them a chance to…?"

"I'd love to hear how you propose to do that?" Beca smirked, crossing her arms over her chest and daring Chloe to continue.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Oh like I'd lay a finger on you, hobbit!"

"Like I'd let you anyway!"

"Think it worked?" Beca was panting when they came to a stop in an alcove on the other side of the archway (okay so she didn't actually follow Aubrey's cardio rule, sue her!).

"Did you see their faces?" Chloe giggled, pressing herself in against Beca so they both fit in the confined corner. "Of course it worked."

"We should consider acting," Beca smirked, looking up into Chloe's eyes.

It was only then the pair realized how close they were. How their faces practically touched, and how the rest of them was touching, their knees knocking together as they stood pressed as one.

"We should…" Chloe started, clearing the intense fog that'd clouded in around them.

"Talk…" Beca finished, nodding her head a mile a minute. "Talk, we should… talk."


	18. Chapter 18

**Okay so here it is. This took me a while, because I wasn't sure how to end it to be honest. There will be a short epilogue though, due to demand, just to tie up some stuff. **

_**Siriuslyblacked: EPILOGE AND MORE. TOO GOOD. Want more. I'm greedy yes but any more of your writing and portrayal of characters YES... you don't say no to more cheese when they ask? Or more booze when someone offers? NO! You say lay it on me!**_

_**That is some profound shit. The booze part of that really spoke to me my friend... and for this comment alone I'd do an epilogue.**_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Back to my place then?" Chloe suggested with a shrug, taking a much needed step back from Beca (before they ended up doing it in the middle of the courtyard).

"I guess," Beca agreed, looking anywhere but at the red head as she willed her body to stay cool. "What about Aubrey though?" She added as an afterthought.

"Are you kidding?" Chloe snorted. "She's either getting torn apart by questions or she's helping them plot how to reunite us."

"That sounds about right I suppose," Beca nodded.

"So mine it is," Chloe finished with a smile. "Let's go then."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So uh… what now?" Fat Amy mused aloud, looking around at her fellow Bellas and being happy to see they all looked as dumbfounded as she felt.

"Do we like… plot to reunite them?" Cynthia tried, figuring that spit balling ideas was the only way to go at this point.

"Does that look like a plot can save it," Aubrey replied.

"I'm still not even sure what that was," Stacie dead panned, still staring at where the two woman had gone.

"Shocker," Amy snorted, earning her a glare from the dark haired woman.

"I didn't mean in general," Stacie snapped. "I meant like… we serenaded Chloe… like… it was a really magical moment… how the hell didn't it work?"

"Beca must have _really_ fucked up," Cynthia agreed.

"They're so perfect for each other though," Jessica commented quietly, her words earning a nod of agreement from the group.

"Well that settles it then," Stacie surmised. "We can't let it end here… we have to do something."

"Oh, sounds like fun," Amy agreed, her eyes lighting up at the thought of an intervention of any sort.

"Ladies, are we sure this is what's best?" Aubrey sighed, not liking the way her friends were practically frothing at the mouth at the notion of interfering in Beca and Chloe's love lives.

"You can sit it out if you really want to," Amy suggested, already knowing what her captains response to that would be. "We however, are going to go to a café, get some food, plot a little, then spring into action."

"I just don't think…" Aubrey started, trying her best not to let her stance falter.

"Suit yourself Aubrey," Cynthia called over her shoulder as the Bellas each began to walk away.

"Oh shit," the blonde growled, her resolve almost instantly breaking as her teammates left her side. "Fine, whatever, I'll help… just know I don't agree with this… like at all."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So…" Beca puffed out awkwardly, standing in the centre of Chloe's dorm rocking ever so slightly on her feet.

"Jesus Beca sit down," Chloe snorted, watching as the younger woman literally shook with nerves. "I'm not going to knife you," she added teasingly, deciding to lead by example as she sat on the edge of her bed.

"Right… right sorry, cool…" Beca nodded, walking over and sitting at the far end, her feet now bouncing, causing the entire room to shake (easy knowing these dorms were built a while ago).

"I need you to be calm Beca… calm," Chloe soothed, scooting over in the bed until she was able to place a comforting hand on the brunettes knee, causing the jumping to stop almost instantly. "You want some tea or something?" She added with a gentle smile.

"You have the means to do that?" Beca shot her eyebrow up.

"Kettle on the floor," Chloe informed her, pointing to the object half hidden behind books. "Teabags… somewhere, I'm sure I could get them. Water and sugar somewhere in the vicinity as well, and uh… cups are… probably somewhere," she summed up with an unsure nod.

"And milk?" Beca added, trying not to laugh.

"Dammit Beca this isn't the Ritz," Chloe shot back teasingly.

"I can tell," Beca agreed. "You know what, I'm good for tea funnily enough… let's just… let's just talk."

"Sounds like a plan," Chloe agreed hastily (because it'd have been awkward if she'd had to go fishing through the bin for two tea cups). "Anyway, yea… we should talk," she continued, the entire reason they'd come her in the first place suddenly wandering back into her mind.

"That was the plan alright," Beca agreed, bracing herself for what was to come.

"I just… yea… I mean my dad and I… we never got on the best, but just… at the heart of it all I know he always wanted what was best for me," she began, looking away from Beca as she spoke, probably trying to keep some of the emotion to herself. "And just… I don't think he though the possibility of me ending up with a woman was what was best for me…"

"It doesn't condone what he done Chlo'," Beca pointed out, surprised at herself for speaking up.

"I know…" Chloe nodded. "I never said it did, because it never will. Though knowing that… deep down in a weird way it's what helped me compartmentalize it, and like, not go crazy when everyone else just seemed to forget it happened."

Chloe was by this point fidgeting so much Beca felt compelled to return the favour and calm her down. She reached out a hand to calm Chloe's shaking palms, covering them in her own and squeezing gently.

"You're brave," Beca remarked, her voice oddly quiet (though it felt fitting for the situation so she decided to go for it).

"You're corny," Chloe retorted, smiling bashfully at Beca's comment.

"You're ruining the atmosphere," Beca shot back, rolling her eyes playfully. "And I'm pretty sure that's my job."

"Atmosphere?" Chloe snorted. "Pray tell?"

"You know… you were sharing an intimate moment from your past and I was comforting you," Beca huffed.

"Oh there so was not an "intimate" atmosphere in the room." This time it was Chloe's turn to roll her eyes.

"Yes there was," Beca insisted (stubborn as ever).

"There was not you drama queen," Chloe laughed.

"Yes there was, because I was debating whether to kiss you or to tell you how brave you were," Beca blurted, being lost in her desire to win the argument so much so that she momentarily lost track of what exactly it was she was saying.

Now if this were a film of some sort (well first of all Beca would be bored, and completely lost as far as the plot line went), this would be the part where Chloe would ask her something silly like "what's stopping you?".

Thank god though, this was real life (because god only knows how awkward Beca would have become if she'd been forced to sit through dialogue on kissing… she'd probably have self-combusted).

Instead it was a lot more straight forward. Chloe just leaned forward and kissed her.

Just like that.

Their lips met and all that metaphorical shit happened. Fireworks. Electricity running through them. Their soft lips clashed together and what felt like a lifetime of sexual frustration being unleashed, all in the one kiss (the pair were lucky some kind of nuclear explosion hadn't occurred).

Chloe could feel Beca smiling into her lips, and she couldn't help but mimic this, her own joy that it was finally, _finally_, happening all but consuming her. She felt Beca's hands move to cradle the back of her neck and pull her closer, and she swore in that second she was floating. Again, when she placed her hands on Beca's sides and felt Beca scoot closer she was fit to implode with the rush of adrenaline that spilt through her.

"Oh…" Beca whispered when they finally split apart, her eyes wide when she re-opened them. "Oh wow," she clarified, more to herself than to the woman beside her.

"Just thought I'd prove that kissing would've been the best of the two options there," Chloe explained, looking similarly shell shocked that she'd just kissed Beca.

"Mhm… concur. I concur," Beca nodded, licking her lips and tasting the strawberry of Chloe's lip balm.

"I should hope so," Chloe smiled, pressing their foreheads together and taking both Beca's hands in her own as the brunette slid them down from Chloe's neck. "After _everything_ that's happened I should damn well hope so."

"Again…" Beca replied, as if just realizing they hadn't instantly resumed kissing.

"Again," Chloe agreed, tilting her head to capture the brunette's lips.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So we're agreed then?" Fat Amy questioned just once more to make sure, as the group travelled in army like formation across the quad towards the dorms.

"Oh we're agreed," Aubrey nodded. "We're sure as hell agreed."

"Okay then… break!" Amy called (because all of a sudden the quad was far too noisy or the Bellas to hear her if she spoke in a normal register).

Her shrill tone seemed to work however. The group seamlessly split in two, Aubrey, Fat Amy, Cynthia and Stacie going one way, with Jessica, Ashley, Lily and Denise heading off in the opposite direction.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Again," Beca groaned, her breathing laboured as Chloe straddled her, her denim blue eyes darker, and fogged over with desire (which in itself was enough to have Beca groaning really).

"Again." Chloe placed the word onto Beca's lips as she once again closed the distance between them, nipping softly at Beca's bottom lip and sucking it gently into her mouth.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Okay, so once more over the plan?" Cynthia Rose demanded, standing huddled with Aubrey, Stacie and Amy.

"We reunite them," Stacie dead panned, her comment earning her a nod of heads from the other three.

"And how do we do that?" Cynthia prompted.

"Without too much difficulty, hopefully," Fat Amy snorted.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Chloe… I…" Beca couldn't finish the sentence.

At any second she was convinced her body was going to catch fire. Every cell was screaming at her, each one wanting in on the action, each one insisting she pin Chloe to the bed and fulfil every dark and dirty fantasy that'd been cumulating in her mind for… well, forever.

"Are you sure?" Maybe it was their proximity, or maybe it was something to do with that electricity they'd shared earlier, but Chloe knew exactly what Beca wanted.

"Mhm…" That was it; the closest Beca was going to get to a sentence right now.

"Good…" Chloe grinned, her pearl white teeth gleaming as they loomed closer and closer to Beca's face. "Kissing was getting kind of boring."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Three…" Aubrey placed her hand on the door knob as Cynthia proceeded with the countdown. "Two…" They weren't quite sure what the countdown was for when all they were expecting was a crying Chloe, but Amy had insisted on the tension so they complied. "One…"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Ohmyg…" Beca whimpered, careful to keep her voice low for fear other dorms would hear would hear.

"Shh," Chloe smiled, her free hand pressing a finger into Beca's lips to silence her. "Anal retentive neighbours," she added; her smile growing as she watched Beca's face silently contort in pleasure.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The doorknob turned and all at once the four women came stumbling into the room. Their automatic instinct was to look to Chloe's bed, expecting a distraught (or at least mildly upset) red head sitting, contemplating the fact she'd just lost the love of her life.

They didn't though.

In fact the bed was empty, and it was Aubrey that was first to realize why.

"Oh sweet divine aca-lord of all that is good and holy, no! No. No!" Her shrill screeching probably woke the dead, not that she cared in that instant.

"Oh my…" Cynthia breathed out, eyes going wide at the site before her.

"No way!" Fat Amy gapped, her face a mixture of pleasure and shock.

"Wow…" Stacie seemed more appreciative than shocked, but that was to be expected.

"Hey guys…" Chloe greeted, looking up bashfully from where she rested her head against Beca's collarbone.

"Sup…" Beca nodded, her hand casually draped over Chloe's shoulder.

"My bed." Aubrey's voice was hoarse and dry when she spoke, her eyes looking dead in her head.

"Yea… Bree it was uh… it was the first one we landed in," Chloe tried to explain, looking awkwardly at her best friend as she lay quite comfortably under the sheets of the blonde's bed.

"We'll change the sheets though?" Beca offered awkwardly as means of resolution.

"I want…" Aubrey paused, clearing her throat before she continued. "I'm going for a walk. You both need to have that bed stripped when I get back… stripped… like your bare asses currently touching my sheet," she trailed off towards the end, seeming lost as to what had just happened as she stepped back out of the room.

"I think we broke her…" Beca whispered dramatically, watching as the blonde went.

"Never mind that!" Amy all but screamed. "You two. Sex. Aubrey's bed. Details please?"

"Yea, don't you hate one another and never want to talk to one another again?" Stacie questioned.

"Not quite…" Chloe laughed. "We just weren't in the mood for a Q and A… no offence," she explained.

"And yea… for the record, we had sex in Chloe's bed…" Beca added, feeling it necessary to mention. "Like ten minutes before you guys got here."

"Beca's just evil, and a very bad influence, and wanted to emotionally scar Aubrey for life," Chloe added.

"She shouts at me all the time…" Beca defended weakly.

"But you two are… together? A Couple? An item? The ying to the others yang? One another's lobsters?" Cynthia tried to clarify.

"Yes," Chloe nodded, looking down at the woman she was lying on, who shot her a shy smile. "After much deliberation, and even more sexual tension, we're finally all of those things."


	19. Epilogue

**Okay, so this is it. It's done. So I just wanted to say how happy I am I wrote this story, and how happy I am that so many of you seemed to like it. I'm not the most dedicated or on the ball person, especially when it comes to something like this that requires so much commitment, so I'd never, ever, have gotten it done if it wasn't for all the reviews you all sent me. I've read every single one of them, and each and every one of them's made me smile, so thank you.**

_**Building Castles: *Sigh* The lobster part just made me fall more in love with this story. Friends is the best. The fact that you referenced it... (unless I'm just being totally awkward, but oh well. When aren't I?) I'm sad that your story is almost over. It makes me very sad. *Double Sigh***_

_**Hell yes I referenced friends. I'm pretty proud that this entire thing wasn't just one big reference to friends (it's really difficult not to do that when you're writing something that's supposed to be funny).**_

_**Whoops: Wow iPod really? Anyways as I was trying to say: My entire family thinks I'm Insane because I was reading this at a family get together of sorts and I kept laughing or like sitting there making this weird face (trying no to just squeal) because it's too cute not to make me smile like an idiot and pervy Chloe and just everything is perfect ok. I'm dead. I've died of a cuteness overdose my family will be billing you for my Funeral costs.**_

_**I've got like 8 euro to my name... you don't want anything extravagant do you? Like you don't really need a coffin, right?**_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Nervous?"

"No…"

"Let me ask again… Nervous?"

"More than I've ever been in my entire life and I think I'm going to throw up."

"Much more like it."

Beca's hands were shaking. Beca's knees were shaking. Actually no, Beca was just head to foot vibrating right now, like her nerves were trying to escape her body so she'd be calm, but they couldn't escape so they just made things more nerve wrecking… you know?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Nervous?"

"… A little… I guess."

"Let me try that again… Nervous?"

"Okay yes! Of course I am. Though also… I think I'm about to explode with excitement!"

"Much more like it."

Chloe's hands were shaking. Chloe's knees were knocking. Actually no, Chloe's entire body was pulsating with a giddy kind of nervousness that made her want to pace the floor in fear, and jump about squealing with joy, all at the same time… you know?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sometimes when you're nervous everything in your life can go kinda blurry.

Beca's life had gone blurry for the first time when Chloe stepped into her shower cubicle and forced her to sing (because let's face it, who'd not be nervous when an _extremely_ attractive stranger decides to shower with you). The lines had gone blurry again on that car ride back from Chloe's house six years ago, when she'd fallen in love with her best friend and proceeded to have everything fall apart.

That's why this situation was so funny. For seven years Chloe had been making Beca's life fuzzy (and not just on those two occasions). Seven years of wide eyed looks that Beca was sure would one day cause her eyes to pop out, seven years of awkward situations, and seven years of nerves building up in the pit of her stomach like a herd (was that the right word?) of angry butterflies (it probably wasn't the right word).

And now here she was, watching as her life zoomed back into focus (she didn't need glasses just yet).

The blur of the standing congregation faded into nothingness and through the haze of bridesmaids and uh... more bridesmaids (and Jesse) a sharp outline of an ivory white dress broke through the storm of colour.

Beca was shaking again, though this time she didn't think it was nerves anymore. In fact it wasn't so much shaking as it was convulsions and… dammit, she'd promised herself she wouldn't cry.

She felt a little more secure when she heard Chloe sniffle, and although she was like 70% sure there was some rule against holding hands with your future spouse until you were officially married (well okay… she was in no way sure what so ever, it just sounded like something that'd be true), she reached out and grabbed Chloe's hand anyway, and didn't let it go until they faced one another for their vows.

"I believe you've prepared your own vows?"

"We have," Beca confirmed, smiling up at the pastor.

"Oh my god…" Chloe stage whispered suddenly. "I forgot my…"

"Here…" Aubrey tapped her briskly on the shoulder, discreetly slipping her a piece of paper. "Never say maids of honour are only good for holding your dress up while you pee," she muttered, rolling her eyes as Chloe smiled her thanks.

"Wait… we've to do that?" Jesse hissed suddenly, looking like he'd just been told he had to well… help someone pee.

"You're man of honour," Beca whispered. "You skip them duties, now shut up." By this point the congregation looked expectantly, rumours already starting to fly that one or both the brides were having second thoughts (probably).

"See, this is why I said it was a good idea to keep Aubrey close," Chloe couldn't help but smirk, waving the vows in Beca's face.

"Chloe… please say your vows," Beca pleaded, apparently being the only one aware that there was still a wedding to get through.

"Oh…" Chloe smiled. "I kept my vows short and sweet… just like you Beca," she began, speaking loud enough to be heard now, as her comment earned her a laugh from the crowd. "When we met, I was drawn to you. It was like without even knowing why my brain was trying to ensure that you played a part in my life, and you did. First you were my friend, then my fake girlfriend, then my real girlfriend, and now today you're going to be my wife. You're going to be my wife Beca, and I promise with every fibre of my being to respect, and cherish you… until you stop being hot… or maybe forever, we'll see."

"Very good," the pastor nodded (though he didn't look like he thought that at all). "Rebecca?" He turned then to Beca, indicating for her to go on with her own vows.

"Chlo', like you said when we met, you were drawn to me. Maybe it was my dashing good looks, or my aptitude for music, or my razor sharp wit?" Beca smiled, pausing as the crowd laughed politely. "Though I think it could also have been fate, or destiny, or god… or one of those powerful forces, because quite frankly, I was lost before you came along. I was an obnoxious teenage girl that thought just because she was in college she was automatically grown up and independent and knew exactly how to navigate through life, and you single handedly showed me I was wrong. You showed me that just because you close the shower curtain doesn't mean other people won't barge in, and just because you agree to be someone's fake girlfriend doesn't mean you won't end up falling in love with them, and most importantly, you taught me that sometimes the only way to convince someone you're sorry you made a mistake is to perform a really elaborate music number. You made me grow up, and you made me really accept life without my punk rock façade to shield me… and for that, I promise that no matter that happens, I'll be there for you… _even_ if you get ugly."

"Do you Chloe Amanda Beale, take this woman, Rebecca Joanne Mitchell to be you're lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"And do you, Rebecca Joanne Mitchell, take this woman, Chloe Amanda Beale to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"… I guess I do."


End file.
